Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

WhatsApp is becoming an increasingly popular news source

By

whatsapp business app phone feature
Image used with permission by copyright holder
The burgeoning problem of fake news over the last several months has underscored the role that social media plays in our news consumption. And it doesn’t look like that role will be getting any smaller anytime soon. According to new data from Digital News Report, WhatsApp is becoming an increasingly popular source of news, and in some parts of the world, has overtaken its parent company Facebook as the go-to purveyor of information.

As per the new report (which was conducted by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism), “the use of WhatsApp for news is starting to rival Facebook in a number of markets, including Malaysia (51 percent), Brazil (46 percent), and Spain (32 percent).” And while 47 percent of study respondents overall still check out Facebook to see what’s going on in the world, this figure has actually dropped in over 50 percent of countries surveyed when compared to 2016.

Recommended Videos

Taken as a whole, it doesn’t appear that WhatsApp is gaining much ground — after all, only 15 percent of overall respondents said that they used the messaging service to stay informed. But on a country-by-country basis, the picture begins to shift. In Brazil, the 46 percent of people who use WhatsApp as their top news source represents a 7-percentage-point growth over last year. In Spain, 32 percent rely on WhatsApp for news, a 6-point increase from last year, and in Turkey, the study found an 8-point increase.

So why the sudden uptick in popularity?

The Reuters Institute surmised that “more closed and private messaging … allows users to share without fear of embarrassment,” whether this content is comprised of photos or potentially contentious news articles. Moreover, price plays a part, as free WhatsApp is generally included in phone contracts (particularly enticing in developing markets). And finally, because WhatsApp offers end-to-end encryption, it is often viewed as a safe means of sharing sensitive information. As the Institute noted, “This is true in Hong Kong where WhatsApp, We Chat, and Facebook Messenger are popular and in Turkey where a quarter of our sample (25 percent) share news via WhatsApp.”

But even as these messaging services become more popular, they’re not necessarily viewed as more trustworthy. Less than a quarter of respondents said that social media is good at differentiating between fact and fiction. So keep looking for the truth, friends — although it may not be where you spend your social media time.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Lulu Chang
Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
WhatsApp now lets you send self-destructing voice messages
WhatsApp logo on a phone.

If you’re on WhatsApp and regularly make use of the view once feature for photo and video messages, then you might be interested to learn that the feature has now been expanded to voice messages.

WhatsApp’s view once feature does what it says, deleting a message after it’s been viewed a single time. It’s been available for photos and videos since 2021, but now you can also send voice messages that can only be played once before they, too, disappear from the app.

Read more
WhatsApp used to be one of my favorite apps. Now, I can’t stand it
WhatsApp logo on a phone held in hand.

For the best part of the last decade, WhatsApp has been my primary means to stay in touch with friends, family, peers at work, and even strangers. Texting is not as prevalent in my country, India, as it is in the U.S. for reasons such as the sheer dominance of Android users (as well as the diminutive share of iOS, and therefore, iMessage users), capped carrier costs for SMS-based messaging, and the poor understanding of RCS.

WhatsApp, on the other hand, is more widely used here than any other communication medium, primarily because it's free and allows the exchange of a multitude of types of media without being limited by national borders. People of all ages use and love it -- and they collectively send enough messages to clog up the internet.

Read more
Lapse app: what you need to know about the new Instagram killer
Mockuups showing someone holding an iPhone with a screen shot of the Lapse app on the display.

It seems like new apps don't create much excitement nowadays, but one app has caught people's attention recently. It's called Lapse, and it's a photo-sharing app that is currently only available through invitation.

The app was created to allow you to share photos with friends, not with followers, in fun new ways. Friends versus followers might seem a bit confusing, but it becomes clearer once you understand how the app operates.

Read more