US youngsters shun Facebook as news sharing source, switch to WhatsApp

Facebook and Twitter are still used by many users to discover news but the discussion then takes place on messaging apps

The use of social media networks such as Facebook to consume news has started to fall in the United States as many young people turn towards messaging apps such as Facebook-owned WhatsApp to discuss events, the Reuters Institute found.

Usage of Facebook, the world's largest social network, for news is down 9 percentage points from 2017 in the United States and down 20 points for younger audiences, according to the Reuters Institute survey of 74,000 people in 37 markets.
 

"The use of social media for news has started to fall in a number of key markets after years of continuous