Twitter is fast becoming an important figure in the world of journalism. The social media website is at the heart of breaking news thanks to its quick and easy
Speaking to Twitter.com, Andrew Miller, CEO of the Guardian Media group said “Twitter is the fastest way to break news now.10% of our traffic now comes from social media, and Twitter is central to its efforts”.
There are an estimated 21 million active twitter users throughout the world. According to a survey carried out by Pew Research Centre, one in 10 American adults gets their news from twitter.
However, the social media site still lies in the shadow of Facebook particularly here in Ireland where 49% of the population over 15 are on Facebook compared with just 11% of the population who are on twitter.
We here at the city decided to do a survey of 100 people between the ages of 15-60, to find out if the people of Dublin use twitter on their smartphones to source news, and if not what news apps do they use.
Of the 100 participants 25% claimed to have a twitter account which they used to get their news. 35% said that they got news from social network site Facebook, while the Journal.ie proved to be the most popular news app between the groups as 44% said they got their news from the Journals news app.
Of those surveyed twitter was most popular for those aged 25-40 with 58% of that age group claiming to use twitter for news. Other popular news apps for this age group included the Daily Mail, Sky Sports News, Sky Sports and the Independent.
18% of those aged between 15-25 used twitter to get news, with most claiming Facebook was their main source. Reddit, Sky Sports news and the Daily Mail proved popular amongst this age group also with 15% admitting to getting their news from Reddit while 35% used Sky Sports news and 28% using the Daily Mail.
Twitter was least popular within the 40-60 age groups with only 2% sourcing their news from the social media site. Popular news apps among these individuals included the Irish Times, Irish Independent, RTE and the Journal.ie.
The city.ie also took to the streets to find how the general public gather their news.
Credits
Reporter: Stephanie Quilligan
Surveyors: Sara Dalton, Niamh Casey, Keelin Riley, Stephanie Quilligan
Camera: Craig Farrell
Production: Graham Barry