Do You Rely on Social Media for News?

written by Caithlin Skultety

I read an article on Mashable yesterday about social media, (Facebook and Twitter in particular), being the main source of news for Brits under 25 years old. How accurate is the news that’s filtered through social media? Since links to articles are usually preceded by some sort of opinionated comment, can we get a true unbiased news story through social media?  At the age of 26 (not that far off) I still prefer to get news via a search engine, to keep me updated on what’s going on. The only “news” I rely on facebook for is personal updates like who’s getting married, had a baby, going back to school, moving, etc. If I see people posting about a true news matter that sparks interest I search it on Google to get the whole story.

Thinking back a few years I was probably content with Facebook as my main source of news because at the time, I was in a different place in my life. I was in school full time, working pretty much full time and trying to juggle a moderate social life as well. So whatever news I could get would have been a plus.  As I get older I feel more obliged to get the full scoop on what might affect me, my job and my country through more accurate sources.