NEW YORK (AP) Most people don't log on to Facebook to find out the news. But it's an important news source anyway, even if incidentally, a study released Thursday indicated.
The Pew Research Center found that 47 percent of adults who use Facebook say they get news there, either through links posted by friends or news sources they follow. Still, given the social media site's popularity, that represents almost one-third of the country's adult population.
Only 4 percent of Facebook users described it as the most important way that they get news.
One-third of Facebook news consumers are adults under 30, or just the type of people less likely to turn to more traditional news sources, the study found.
Pew director Amy Mitchell said that Facebook represents a different way of consuming news. As one of the 5,173 adults who responded to Pew's survey said, "Facebook is a good way to find out news without actually looking for it."