Reuters' 2023 Digital News Report: despite social media fragmentation, users' dependence on platforms for news keeps growing; Facebook drops and TikTok grows
This year's report comes against the backdrop of a global cost-of-living crisis, a continuing war in the heart of Europe, and further climate instability across the world.
Reuters InstituteNic Newman
Context & Ripple Effects
This report captures a redistribution of news discovery rather than a retreat from platforms: Facebook's weakening role had already been visible in declining regular Facebook news use, while TikTok was gaining as a news destination.
Publishers must contend with a more fragmented distribution environment while remaining dependent on third-party platforms to reach news audiences.
Facebook loses relative importance as a news-referral and discovery channel, while TikTok becomes more consequential for news visibility and audience acquisition.
Second-order effects
Newsrooms and publishers have greater incentive to tailor distribution to TikTok's format and audience dynamics, alongside conventional social publishing; creators reporting and aggregating news can gain influence in that shift, as shown by the rise of news-focused creators across video platforms.
A shrinking Facebook role makes concentration risk less about one dominant social network and more about managing several platforms whose news priorities and audience behavior differ.
Third-order effects
If platform dependence continues alongside fragmentation, publishers' direct audience relationships become more strategically valuable but harder to build at scale, reinforcing the subscription growth gap between brands with loyal audiences and those reliant on referral traffic.
News distribution is likely to be governed increasingly by platform-specific interfaces and recommendation systems, with editorial reach shaped by changing route share rather than by publishers' homepages alone.
The trend: News consumption is shifting from a Facebook-centered social distribution model toward a fragmented, video-led platform ecosystem that still concentrates power over audience access outside publishers.
“Younger groups everywhere are showing a weaker connection with news brands' own websites and apps than previous cohorts - preferring to access news via side-door routes such as social media, search, or mobile aggregators.” https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac .uk/ ...
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