More than ever, people are using Twitter, Facebook and other social media sources to learn about what’s happening in the world as traditional news outlets become increasingly less relevant to the digital generation.
American forces’ raid on Osama Bin Laden, Whitney Houston‘s death, the Hudson River plane landing — these are just a few of many major news stories ordinary citizens broke on Twitter first. Professional journalists, meanwhile, use Twitter all the time to break news quickly before writing up full articles.
And the business side is going digital too. Online news now generates more revenue than print newspapers.
But the trend toward Internet and social media-based news — and the accompanying rush to be first to report a story — also comes with pitfalls. Some 50% of news consumers have received “breaking news” via social media, only to find out later it was erroneously reported.
All this and more comes from the online education portal Schools.com, which pulled research from sources including the Washington Post, Pew Research Center and Reuters to put together the infographic below. Check it out to see the fuller picture of how social media is coming to dominate the news industry.
How much do you rely on social media for news compared to more traditional sources? Has that balance changed for you recently? Let us know in the comments.
Thumbnail image courtesy iStockphoto, DNY59
More About: Facebook, infographics, News, Social Media, trending, Twitter
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