The loudest voice wins.
Online, the loudest person in the room gets believed, right or wrong.
A following that believes in them is all the authority they need. 77% of the news influencers Americans follow have no background or ties to a news organization, yet 65% of their audience says they help them understand current events.1 On Twitter, false stories were 70% more likely to be retweeted than true ones, and people, not bots, did the spreading.2
77% of the news influencers Americans follow have no background in news (Pew Research Center, 2024).
The trend
More numbers
faster: false stories reached 1,500 people about six times faster than true ones.2
of U.S. adults under 30 regularly get news from influencers, versus 8% of those 65 and older.3
“False news travels farther, faster, deeper and more broadly than the truth in every category of information.”
Sinan Aral, MIT
The other side
Most people who follow news influencers say they help them understand current events, and some influencers have real expertise.
of Americans who get news from influencers say it helps them understand current events. Pew Research Center, 2024 ↗
Why Anthony still holds this view
Feeling informed and being informed are different things, especially when 77% of these influencers have no news training.
For marketers
Followers create credibility, true or not. Check partners for accuracy, because their mistakes become yours.
For you
Before trusting someone online, ask what they actually know about the subject.