WASHINGTON: Two-thirds of American adults get at least some of their news from social media, even though many are sceptical about the accuracy of that information, a survey showed on Monday.

The Pew Research Centre report found 68 per cent said they used social networks for news, with 20pc saying they got information “often” from those services including Facebook and Twitter.

More than half of those surveyed (57pc) said they expect the news they see on social media to be “largely inaccurate”, according to Pew. Still, most respondents said getting news this way has made little difference in their understanding of current events — 36pc said it helped their understanding of current events while 15pc said it made them “more confused”.

An estimated 67pc of Facebook’s users get news there, as do 71pc of Twitter users and 73pc of Reddit users. Smaller percentages get news from other online platforms such as YouTube, Tumblr, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat and WhatsApp, according to the report. Pew surveyed 4,581 US adults between July 30 and Aug 12.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2018