O Facebook was dethroned by WhatsApp as the most used social network in general, after 9 years in the lead, according to the recently released Reuters Digital News Report 2024.
After nine years of being the most used social network in general, Facebook (64%) was dethroned by the messaging app WhatsApp (65%), also owned by Meta, says the 13th annual report by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ).
"The 'streaming' platform Youtube, owned by Google, is used by 59% of respondents, Instagram by 51% and Facebook Messenger by 41%“, according to the study’s conclusions.
The social network TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, is used by 22%.
"However, Facebook continues to be the most used platform for news consumption (35%), followed by WhatsApp (23%), YouTube and Instagram (with the same percentage, 21%)”, while X (formerly Twitter) “is only used by 11% for general purposes and 6% for news consumption“, according to the study.
Highlight for a “small drop in the use of all networks, without exception, both in general terms and for informational purposes, not only among older people but also among young people".
Although there has been no change in the methodological configuration of the Digital News Report 2024, compared to previous years, “and since this is a general trend, identified in practically all 47 markets under study, there are two reasons that can justify this decrease: those related to use, namely saturation/annoyance with this type of platform and market reasons, with the growing fragmentation of audiences and, consequently, of networks, as well as a change in platform strategy“, says the report.
In terms of social media news sources, “There are differences between the networks, with TikTok standing out as the network where users most use their peers as sources (55%), followed by Facebook (44%)".
Now at X (former Twitter) greater attention is paid to political actors (51%) than alternative news brands or journalists (47%). Therefore, the TikTok network is a network where social media is least likely to be used as a source of news (23%), and it is important to highlight that we are talking about networks in which news brands have different degrees of presence and communication strategies”.
The Reuters Digital News Report 2024 (Reuters DNR 2024) is the 13th annual report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ).
