Social Media Overtakes Print Media: What This Means

It was bound to happen. According to a new survey from Pew Research Center released just before the holidays, social media has for the first time surpassed print media as a go-to source of news and information.

The study asked Americans where they often get their news. Here’s what they said:

• 49% – Television
• 33% – News website
• 26% – Radio
• 20% – Social media
• 16% – Print news

Social media had a two-percent lead over print in 2017, but that was within the margin of error, making it a statistical tie.

So, does this mean businesses should stop trying to get coverage in print media?

No … no it doesn’t.

The thing that I remind people is that the news they’re reading on Facebook, Twitter and the like should come from legitimate news sources if it’s to be trusted. Those legitimate news sources include print media like newspapers and magazines, as they all link their articles on social media sites. While those links go to news websites (which is a different category listed above) the primary reason for most newspapers and magazines to exist is to print on paper.

So, even though print news is slowly dying, it’s not being killed by social media. The fact that social media exists is helping to keep it relevant.