New Report Looks at Emerging Trends in Social Media and Messaging App Use

This is no big surprise, but it’s still a little concerning regardless.

According to the latest survey report from YouGov, more people are now getting their daily news insights from social platforms, with traditional news outlets losing traction as news delivery sources.

As per YouGov:

“25% of US adults now say that TV is their primary news source, down from 31% in 2019. In the same time, Americans who say social is their primary news source have increased from 12% to 18%, while for Americans under 34, social has already usurped TV as the top new source.”

Social platforms are an influential news source for many, with younger generations, in particular, now more reliant on online providers than traditional outlets.

Which is good in some ways, in that it enables a broader range of insight from various news sources. But it can also mean that less reputable, less trustworthy outlets gain more precedence without the traditional vetting process of professional journalists.

YouGov’s latest report looks at various online media trends, based on insights from YouGov’s pool of millions of respondents. The trends within this report are U.S.-specific, but they do provide some more insight into overall usage and behavioral shifts.

The report also looks at social platform adoption, and the changing rates of usage for each app among demographic subsets.

As you can see, younger users are still more readily adopting social apps, though Facebook remains the key social platform among older markets.

The report also looks at messaging app trends, where WhatsApp’s rise is the most notable shift.

WhatsApp usage is up 9% overall versus the same report in 2021, which is in line with broader trend notes around the take-up of the more privacy-focused app.

Technically, you could probably argue that Snapchat’s also a messaging app, especially among younger users, and it’d be interesting to see where Snap ranks in comparison.

On another front, the report also shows that 46% of Americans now spend 6+ hours per week on social media platforms, while for users aged 18-24, it’s closer to 60%.

Social apps are now embedded in many parts of our interactive process, and at such high usage rates, it underlines why brands need to have a defined social marketing strategy, in order to reach their target audience where they’re engaging.

The full YouGov report includes a heap more insights, which could help to better inform your approach to digital outreach.

You can download the full 2024 “US Media Morph” report here (with email sign-up).