Journalism and the news media continue to navigate perilous seas, but they’ve done so for many years. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and waves of other digital technologies, however, are propelling journalism into unknown waters. The deprioritization of news on social platforms, the decline in links to legitimate news sites and a lack of attribution are forcing news publishers to plot a new course and adapt to the changing social media ecosystem.
The evolution of existing social media platforms and the addition of new platforms are quickly expanding the ecosystem. Just as news publishers think they understand how to use social media effectively, the rules of the game change.
The social media symbols on most news outlets’ home pages are typically Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X, with TikTok also appearing on some. Bluesky has been appearing on some sites as part of the discontent with X. Mastodon, the other alternative to X for many people, shares several features with Bluesky. Both are described as “decentralized,” meaning there is no single entity controlling access or content. Many users are attracted to the platforms’ emphasis on building communities and ethical practices. Many journalists who lost their jobs are launching Substack newsletters, and the platform announced recently that it would add a TikTok-like scrollable video feed.
Earlier this year, BuzzFeed, the popular source for celebrity news and quizzes, announced it was developing a social media platform called BF Island. Jonah Peretti, founder and CEO, explained in a recent manifesto that BF Island’s content will serve as a positive alternative to the negative content that algorithms often push to the forefront on many social media platforms. (BuzzFeed declined an interview about BF Island because it hadn’t launched yet.)
Bluesky, Mastodon and BF Island may be more welcoming platforms for news outlets’ social media posts, but creating a presence on these new platforms when news publishers are already posting on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X and TikTok can be confusing and overwhelming.
Jill Nicholson is the chief marketing officer at Chartbeat. With many years as a local journalist before joining Chartbeat, she understands the challenges that news publishers face in adapting to such a dynamic social media environment. Her advice is to explore and experiment with these new platforms to learn about how they work and post some content to test how their audiences react.
“I just returned from VidCon, the largest event about digital culture and its creators, and their content strategy is more about community building. How do you find and participate in the communities within your community? That is how we’ll raise brand awareness, particularly with the younger generation who are social media natives. How can we participate in their conversations in an additive and valuable way? They’re creating communities, but if the local news outlet isn’t a part of those communities, then that’s where the disconnect happens,” Nicholson said.
Cliff Lampe is a professor of information and associate dean for academic affairs in the School of Information at the University of Michigan. Social media is one of his several areas of research. In his view, one of the challenges for news publishers on social media is that journalism, as it has been practiced for 100 years, requires a different skill set than creating and publishing social media content. Lampe still believes the traditional skills of journalism, such as cross-checking and quality control, have a place in high-quality social media content; however, that process is slower and can be a barrier to a quick reaction with a video post on social media.
“My recommendation is to look for people who can successfully dive deep into a news story and engage an audience. Trying to emulate the quick-hit content providers on social media isn’t necessarily the way to achieve that. News publishers must think about how they can use these technologies to do what they want to do, as opposed to making the technologies fit their old mental model of a newspaper,” Lampe said.
The reality of news access on social media
The changes in the social media ecosystem are evident in the comparative data from the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025. In 2013, 27% of the U.S. audience was obtaining news from social media, compared to 72% from TV and 47% from print. In 2025, social media usage doubled to 54%, while TV usage remained at 50% and print usage decreased to 14%. 2025 will be marked as the first year more Americans obtained their news from social media than from TV.
The devices being used to access news reveal the mobility of today’s news audiences. In 2013, 71% used a desktop device and 28% a mobile device. By 2025, the ecosystem has flipped on its head, with desktop access decreasing to 55% and mobile access increasing to 70%. The Reuters Institute also reported that 31% of respondents shared news via social media, messaging and email.
Pew Research Center 2024 data also reveals the strength of social media as a news source. The percentage of people who often or sometimes access news on social media has remained consistent since 2020, at just over 50%. Facebook is where the most U.S. adults regularly obtain news, at 33%, but this is a three-point decrease from 2020. YouTube has increased from 23% to 32%, Instagram from 11% to 20% and TikTok from 3% to 17%.
Video storytelling on social media is journalism
As chief marketing officer at Chartbeat, Nicholson shares her valuable insights about video storytelling with news publishers across the country. She has identified a shift among some social media audiences. They are still drawn to entertainment content, but the proliferation of learning content suggests that people are searching for information to lead better lives.
“Visiting YouTube, TikTok and Instagram for learning content is replacing the traditional ways we learned to live our lives better. That creates an opening for news publishers. A large part of journalism’s mission is to help our community constituents access the information they need to live better lives. Ask yourself, ‘If someone wants to live better in my community, how can I make sure they have access to this content?’” Nicholson said.
The Reuters survey/report also found that, in the United States, like many other affluent countries, a solid majority (60%) of people still prefer to read the news. Another 27% said they preferred to watch the news, and the proportion of those who watch it weekly increased from 55% in 2021 to 72% in 2025. Most of that viewing occurred on social media, with YouTube (32%), Facebook (26%) and X (20%) being the top three platforms.
Nicholson is well aware that creating and posting video content is particularly challenging for small, local news publishers. She suggests they develop regional partnerships and build communities among themselves with similar lifestyles. She also suggests looking for people in the community, especially young people, who are content creators with followings.
“People in your community creating other types of content may want to partner with you. You’ll benefit from their creator experience, and they’ll benefit when you share the basics of journalism, its integrity and the veracity of information. You give them space to create, but with the same guidelines for your news staff. Find the young people in your market who are content creators,” said Nicholson.
Staff discussions drive social media success at The Roanoke (Virginia) Rambler
The Roanoke Rambler began publishing in 2021, offering a unique blend of content. Hyperlocal, independent investigative reporting is The Rambler’s primary editorial focus. It also provides a platform for local short story writers, poets and creative nonfiction writers to share their original fiction, essays and poetry.
Henri Gendreau, a former reporter with The Roanoke Times, is the founder of The Rambler. Having served as the initial editor, he hired Todd Jackson as managing editor in 2025. Jackson was also previously with The Roanoke Times for 30 years. The Rambler has an evolving social media strategy, but it is also limited by the staff size, resulting in Jackson creating and posting most of the content. According to Jackson, the analytics indicate the social media strategy is attracting people to The Rambler’s website and newsletter.
“The numbers have grown, especially during the past year. We continue to try new ideas. For example, we’ve discussed providing our social media readers more context about why we select and report certain investigative stories. We’ve also started creating some videos, and that has been successful,” Jackson said.
Although much of the content on social media is brief text and short videos, Jackson said he posts The Rambler’s longer investigative reporting pieces in their entirety, and it doesn’t deter people from reading them.
“My advice to other news publishers is: don’t be scared of social media. It’s not as hard as some might think. Discuss and create a content and scheduling strategy. Include your staff in the discussion because everyone has different talents and different viewpoints, and their input can lead to ideas that can work on social media,” Jackson said.
Fighting the algorithms for attribution
For Seamus Hughes, editor at Court Watch, social media is critical to the niche news site’s growth. He and his reporter, Peter Beck, are constantly fighting against social media algorithms to ensure proper attribution of their hard work. Without attribution, their reporting is invisible to the audiences they want to attract.
Hughes and Beck search federal court filings to uncover unreported stories, for which they must pay an access fee. They’re published on the Court Watch website and in a weekly newsletter, and the primary sources are shared with readers. According to Hughes, many Court Watch stories are republished with proper attribution. He discovered that various social media account holders had either summarized a recent Court Watch article or rewritten it and then generated tens of thousands to millions of views without attribution. By comparison, the article generated approximately 11,000 views for Court Watch via its newsletter.
“If we do see this lack of attribution in the future, then we’ll start calling out these individuals and content farms. Many local newspapers and ABC, CBS and NBC didn’t cite us either. We live and die based on the views and subscribers to our reporting. We won’t be able to do original reporting if fewer people are accessing it from our site and newsletter,” Hughes said.
While attending the recent Investigative Reporters and Editors Conference, Hughes discovered many small nonprofit news outlets were also complaining about a lack of attribution. He shares the same challenge with them: they lack a social search engine optimization team, the capacity or structure in place to compete with the big platforms.
Hughes spoke with Google to bring the problem to their attention, and Google is working to increase the number of Court Watch articles. Despite that positive step, Hughes said news publishers need a dedicated person for social media. Google search won’t generate the links, and the increasing use of AI summaries doesn’t drive traffic.
“The social media landscape is different this year than it was last year. X (Twitter) doesn’t reward individuals who post links on the site. The algorithm downplays it or downvotes it. X won’t drive traffic anymore. Now, it’s a shot in the dark. You must post on X, LinkedIn, Bluesky, Threads, Instagram and TikTok to engage with different subsets of people. That’s quite labor-intensive. To understand the weird quirks and intricacies of each of those sites does not come naturally to journalists,” Hughes said.
Creating a social media community within your community, inviting staff to contribute to your social media strategy, and being willing to try new ideas, including video content, are best practices that will help news publishers adapt to the dynamic social media ecosystem successfully.
Bob Sillick has held many senior positions and served a myriad of clients during his 47 years in marketing and advertising. He has been a freelance/contract content researcher, writer, editor and manager since 2010. He can be reached at bobsillick@gmail.com.
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