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Almost 70% of 14-30 year-olds get their news from social media

Shea Bennett (@Sheamus), Co-Editor at AllTwitter, reports that per a Ypulse study more than two-thirds (68 percent) of 14-30 year-olds get their news from social media.

Rather than newspapers (33%), radio (44%), and television (55%), this age group gets its news from Twitter, Facebook, or online word of mouth. If it’s not social media, the preference is an online news site (66%) over traditional media.

Instantaneous news is not what this age group is after, they want accurate information. 67 percent would rather be the last to know so long as the information was true.

It’s not like this age group is going to adopt our age group’s news habits when they get older. The way we have consumed news and information via newspaper, radio, television, and magazines is going to go away forever.

To gain a proper perspective on all of this, rather than look at social media as unique, you may want to look at the days of mass media as more of a blip in time. For hundreds of years people shared their news and information by word of mouth. A town square served a real purpose.

We’re now returning to a town square, with the Internet facilitating the discussion.

Here’s an infographic from Ypulse highlighting the survey numbers. Hat tip to Daryl Drabinsky (@ddrab), Digital Marketing Specialist at White & Case.