At a time when many media outlets are expressing concern about the development of artificial intelligence, particularly with the arrival of a new feature on Google that has already caused the American press to lose traffic, this dizzying fall could only be the beginning...
Indeed, a recent study on news consumption habits seems to show that the traditional press is also losing ground to influencers...
Social networks, the main source of information in the United States
This is a trend that we are currently seeing in the United States, but which we could soon find on the European continent. Indeed, according to the 171-page Digital News Report 2025 commissioned by the Reuters Institute and the University of Oxford, content consumption habits are in full swing.
With a study of 100,000 people and in 48 countries, it is especially behavior on the American continent that remains the most surprising. For the first time, a study clearly shows that 54% of social networks are used as a source of information via influencers, thus surpassing television and other media such as paper newspapers.
The study also highlights the emergence of artificial intelligence which, even if it is still far from surpassing social networks or television, could well position itself in a better position in the years to come.
Facebook and YouTube, big winners in information
While these figures remain very interesting, this study goes much further and also analyzes the most popular social networks for information. And while we see that X, Elon Musk's social network, has experienced timid growth, it is on the side of influencers on TikTok and Instagram that we note greater progression.
But if these social networks are growing, they are still far behind Facebook and YouTube which dominate all the others overall.
Algorithms that divide opinion?
According to SocialMediaToday's analysis on the subject, this new trend in information consumption could explain the rise of extremes and the deep divisions in public opinion via increasingly influential engaged.
Whether it's on X, TikTok, or Meta, social media algorithms are heavily criticized for creating more anxiety, doubt, and fear among Internet users.
While this may seem surprising at first, there is actually a real logic behind this phenomenon. By offering increasingly divisive content that divides through their algorithms, social media are more easily able to generate engagement with discussions, arguments in the comments, or visibility.
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