A new Pew Research Center survey reveals that young Americans increasingly rely on social media influencers for news, with the majority of these influencers being men and leaning politically to the right.
The survey found that while one in five U.S. adults regularly consumes news from online "news influencers" who discuss current events, the figure rises to nearly 40% among young adults aged 18 to 29. Among those who turn to influencers for news, 65% said it helped shape their understanding of current events and civic issues.
Conducted during three weeks in July and August, as the presidential election campaign ramped up, the study analyzed 500 popular news influencers with followings exceeding 100,000 and surveyed 10,658 Americans about their news habits. Influencers and podcasters, including Joe Rogan and Alex Cooper, played significant roles in campaign strategies. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump both leveraged these platforms, with Trump specifically engaging "manosphere" influencers to connect with male voters.
"News influencers have emerged as one of the key alternatives to traditional outlets as a news and information source for a lot of people, especially younger folks. And these influencers have really reached new levels of attention and prominence this year amid the presidential election," Galen Stocking, a senior computational social scientist at the Pew Research Center, said in a statement. "We thought it was really important to look at who is behind some of the most popular accounts - the ones that aren't news organizations, but actual people."
The study revealed that, despite allegations of right-wing censorship, news influencers were more likely to lean conservative. Among them, 27% explicitly identified as Republican or pro-Trump, compared to 21% who identified as liberal. On Facebook, conservative news influencers were three times more prevalent than liberals (39% vs. 13%), while on Instagram, conservatives also outnumbered liberals, 30% to 25%.
"Many Republicans have long believed that social media sites censor conservative viewpoints. But overall, more news influencers explicitly present a politically right-leaning orientation than a left-leaning one in their account bios, posts, websites or media coverage," Pew said.
The study found that most news influencers have no affiliation with traditional news outlets, with 77% reporting no past or current ties to media organizations. Influencers who are affiliated with news organizations were less likely to openly express a clear political stance. However, when they did share political views, they were more likely to align with right-leaning news sources.
Unlike trained journalists, social media influencers often mix personal opinions with reporting, presenting views as facts. While news organizations separate reporting and opinion, influencers typically produce content, such as podcasts or newsletters, that doesn't distinguish between factual reporting and opinionated commentary.
During the final months of the election, political content from news influencers became critical for campaigns, as they used their large, loyal followings to engage undecided voters. Unlike political TV ads, influencers aren't required to disclose whether they are paid by candidates to discuss certain issues or express opinions.
While both presidential candidates engaged with influencers, President-elect Trump primarily sought out influencers who were supportive of his campaign and avoided those who might challenge his political record or policies. This strategy gave many young voters a largely favourable view of Trump as a candidate.
The Pew study also found that the news influencer space was predominantly male, with 63% identifying as male compared to just 30% female. This gender disparity was consistent across most platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, X, and Instagram, where men outnumbered women by two to one.
TikTok had the smallest gender gap and was the only platform where conservative influencers did not outnumber liberals. Influencers on TikTok were also more likely to show support for LGBTQ rights.
In the aftermath of the election, many social media users and public figures left X due to its owner, Elon Musk, openly supporting Trump and spreading misleading election claims. This led to millions of new sign-ups for Bluesky, which quickly rose to the top of the Apple App Store.
