Social Research on New Media Source

Running head: SOCIAL RESEARCH ON NEW MEDIA SOURCE
SOCIAL RESEARCH ON NEW MEDIA SOURCE
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1SOCIAL RESEARCH ON NEW MEDIA SOURCE
1.1.2 Do everyday users trust new media as a news source?
According to a survey conducted by BT the majority of people do not trust social media
and are most the time are suspicious of social media. However, social network platforms are vital
for reporting on the issues of the marginalized communities like the ethnic minorities and the
sexual minorities. The Digital News Report of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
found that there is high skepticism regarding the news content that is present on the social media
and 33 per cent comprising of 70, 000 of the consumers have polled in 36 countries that they
cannot rely on the news source that is available on the social media [1]. It has been found that the
24 per cent of the people are of the view that social media have done an incredible job in
separating fact from fiction as compared to 40 per cent of the people on mainstream media.
Although mainstream media is usually not trusted but it is trusted more when it comes to
separating fact from fiction. Due to the trend of fake news in the world of journalism, this is an
opportunity for the media house to reestablish the brand value of the mainstream media by
focusing on equality. A recent study has demonstrated that the young consumers are ready are
ready to pay online for the news according to an annual study regarding news consumption. The
news further found that people who are under 35 are willing to pay for high-quality news through
the news of social media. There have been accusations against the mainstream established news
media for resorting to fake journalism. For example, Donald Trump has vehemently attacked the
mainstream journalism for being biases, partial and showing distorted reality to the people.
According to scholars, social media is not dwindling away although people are switching to
more convenient options like the news media app. One of the reasons for staying away from
social media is the degree of debates that take place on Twitter and Facebook. However, the
utility of the social media lies in its ability to provide diverse, risqué and controversial news that

2SOCIAL RESEARCH ON NEW MEDIA SOURCE
is usually not reported in the print journalism. According to a survey conducted by Reuters, the
trust is a factor that is on a steady decline in case of the Facebook users. The poll found that 2237
adults from USA were of the view that the personal information entered during the access of
news in social media can pose challenges as it might divulge the personal information to the
potential attackers. It has been found that more than Facebook, the users trust Twitter, Pinterest,
Tumbler, Snapchat and Google+. The findings of this survey are consistent with the findings of
the The Verge’s own research that ensued that 30 per cent of the people out of 1520 respondents
in US have great distrust towards social media. Reuters further found that 41 per cent of the users
trust Facebook that is followed by Amazon that is trusted by 66 per cent of the people and 62 per
cent people trust Google [2].
The everyday users of the social media do not tend to have a reliance on the various news
that is circulated among the various social media platforms. This is due to the fact that the
concerned social media news articles tend to mislead the target audience on the actuality of the
facts that are reported within the concerned piece of news. The credibility of the information that
is passed on by the concerned reporters tend to be questionable thereby making the concerned
news article improper to be granted as a proper news article [5]. The huge number of fake
articles that have been circulated in the various social media platforms tend to limit the trust that
the common people might have had on the news over the social media.
The American citizens do claim that they procure much of the daily information over the
various social media platforms that have been active within the country. However, the American
citizens further claim that the news that is displayed or depicted in the various social media
platforms are often fake and might be rumors in the majority of the cases. The reports on the
media suggest that the concerned followers of the news rely more on the original source of the