Facebook Inc Is A Major Source Of Political News For Millennials [STUDY]

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Facebook is rapidly becoming a significant force in the world of news media. According to a recent study by Pew Research Center, a majority of American Millennials prefer Facebook to get their political and other relevant government news.

Millennials less interested in government and politics

The research took into account the opinions of 2,901 users of different age groups, and was aimed at investigating the media consumption habits of three American generations, namely Millennials, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers.

The study concluded that almost 61% of Millennials obtained their political news from Facebook, followed by 44% who used CNN for the same purpose. Around 37% of such people claimed TV was their major source of getting political and other government news.

On the other hand, only 39% of the Baby Boomers relied on the social networking site for getting updates on politics. At the same time, 51% of Gen Xers declared to have used Facebook to become aware of the latest developments in politics. However, it was found that only 26% of Millennials are interested in government and politics, in contrast with 34% of Gen Xers and 45% of Baby Boomers.

Facebook’s efforts paying-off

Apart from Facebook, Google News was also found to be a popular online platform for obtaining political updates. About 33% of Millennials, 18% of Gen Xers and 15% of Baby Boomers said they have used the service for acquiring political and government news. Whereas, just 23 %of Millennials, 11% of Generation X and 10% of baby boomers said they have used YouTube for the same purpose. Meanwhile, the figures for Facebook’s competitor Twitter were found to be a lot worse, as it was preferred by a meager 14% of Millennials, 9% of Generation X and 5% of boomers for obtaining updates on politics.

Facebook has now clearly emerged as an influential name in the global media sector. Moreover, since last month, nine news organizations, including National Geographic, have started publishing their content directly on the social networking site. It seems like that the main goal of the company is to keep consumers in the Facebook ecosystem, along with facilitating faster loading of articles and other interactive media.

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