Fewer people are using Facebook for news even as messaging apps such as WhatsApp gain in popularity, according to a new study by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
The seventh annual edition of the report said the fall in users accessing news on Facebook reflected concerns about privacy. Changes to Facebook’s algorithms, which had de-prioritised news in people’s feeds, had also played a part.
The research, by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, at the University of Oxford, was based on a YouGov online survey of 74,000 people in 37 countries.
It suggested young audiences were more likely to use WhatsApp, Instagram & Snapchat for news, partly because there was a growing desire to discuss news in relative privacy. The proportion of those surveyed that accessed news via WhatsApp had tripled in 4 years, to 15%. This tended to be much higher in countries, such as Malaysia & Turkey, where it can be dangerous to express views in more open networks.
