By: Laura67 and Hannah32

Studies conducted by the Reuters Institute Digital News Report, conclude that smart devices tend to influence how they receive world news.

            From laptops, to tablets, to smartphones, users are able to receive news reports from all different kinds of outlets. A study suggests that users world wide with smartphones tend to use a slimmer range of new sources compared to those who have a laptop or tablet. Those who use smartphones daily tend to be consumed with current news. However, when testing which device users seek out to find TV news both the smart phone and the tablet have a 84% rating for usage.

Reports display the top leading social media sites used for general purposes as well as news related purposes

Based on this year’s report, social media has been used in different parts of the country in order to share and gain access to news. The 2014 report has shown that social media sites such as Facebook has the largest network for all purpose use with 35% of it being used to consume news. Overall there were 15% of Youtube users who used the site for news related purposes and 9% of Twitter used the site to be informed of news as well. Social Media sites vary on its popularity based on its region. For an example, Twitter is vastly used in Spain with 21% of people using the site, but in the U.S only 8% are using Twitter . It mostly depends on the leading broadcasters where news is covered

Studies suggest that those from a younger generation tend to share world news via social media sites, rather than personal messaging or emailing as the older generation.

The Unites States sits in fourth place with 35% of sharing top news stories via email or social network weekly. The younger generation are more likely to send, comment, and search on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest, etc. to input and output their information.

Reports have shown that men an women take a specific interest in weird news.

Weird News has been claimed by men and women to be one of their five most important types of news. According to the 2014 reports, 36% of women between the age of 18-24 claimed that weird news was an important type of news. 24% of males between the ages of 18-24 also agreed that fun or weird news was important. Weird news has been primarily “appreciated” from both men and women. Sites such as Buzzfeed have taken a specific interest and has captivated the younger audience in engaging in news.