Social media not as helpful in sending viewers to news sites as believed: Study

News organisations do not get readers through referrals from social media or search engines, a new study has found.

The Pew Research Centre found that news outlets however get the most engaged readers by working on their own to build brand loyalty.

According to news24, Amy Mitchell, Pew's director of journalism research, said Facebook and search are critical for bringing added views to individual stories, but it is hard to build relationships with those users.

The study, in collaboration with the Knight Foundation, examined sites and found that the percentage of direct visitors who also came to the site via Facebook was extremely small at just between 0.9 percent and 2.3 percent.

However, the percentage of direct visitors who came to a site through a search engine ranged from 1.3 percent to 4.1 percent.

The study found that most people accessed the news on their computers using three methods - direct access, search or social media.