News is the New Social Experience

Today, Americans can get their news from multiple news vehicles. The Internet and mobile technology have changed the way people consume the news, and have turned the absorption of news into a social experience.


People's relationship with news is constantly changing because of the Internet. Six in ten Americans get news from a combination of online and offline sources everyday.


Research shows that while online, most people used between two and five online news sources and 65% do not have a single favorite website for news. Only 21% say they use only one site for their news and information.


News is becoming personalized, participatory, and portable. According to this article:

• Personalized: 28% of Internet users have customized their home page to include news from sources and topics that particularly interest them
• Participatory: 37% of Internet users have contributed to the creation of news, commented about it, or disseminated it via postings on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter.
• Portable: 33% of cell phone users now access news on their cell phones.

What does all of this mean? This multi-media platform environment is becoming a shared social experience. People are posting news stories to their Facebook feeds, swapping links in emails, and highlighting news stories in their Tweets.

The Internet has surpassed newspapers and radio in popularity as a news platform on a typical day. It ranks just behind TV.