• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, April 1, 2024

Social media is the leading source of news about the 2024 election, judging by Sprout Social’s Q1 2024 Consumer Pulse Survey. 

Of the U.S. individuals polled, 75% agree that social is their primary news source for this year’s presidential race. That rises to 84.5% for millennials and 84% for Gen Zers.

Moreover, 66% strongly/somewhat agree that information they’ve seen on social media has shaped an opinion they have on the election. Again, this is higher for younger voters – 78% for millennials and 77% for Gen Z. 

And, consumers strongly agree that news and media orgs – not brands – should supply election news on social. Consumers' preferred sources are: 

• News/media accounts—78% 
• Nonprofit brand accounts—33%
• Business leaders (e.g. CEOs)—26%
• For-profit brand accounts—25%

In contrast to social, TV/streaming ads are utilized by 61% to get election news, digital media by 44% and podcasts by 18%. Boomers prefer TV first (71%), followed by digital (54%), social (41%) and print (17%). 

But Gen Z uses social (81%), TV/streaming (61%), digital media (35%) and podcasts (20%). 

The leading social channels? Facebook is used for news by 63% of consumers, Instagram by 51% and TikTok by 38%. But Gen Z uses TikTok (63%), Instagram (62%) and Facebook (48%).

On the brand front, 73% of consumers are comfortable with companies using AI to deliver faster customer care on social. In addition, 38% would be more interested in a brand that did so, but 26% would be more distrustful. 

In addition, 39% would be less likely to engage with a brand that used AI-generated content on social, while 31% would be more likely. 

Sprout Social surveyed March 2024 with 2,000 consumer respondents in the U.S. and U.K. The 2024 election questions were limited to U.S. respondents only.