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Kenya has emerged as the world's top user of the TikTok video app, according to a recent digital news analysis by the Reuters Institute.
A remarkable 54% of users in the East African country use TikTok for various purposes, and 29% exclusively rely on it for news consumption, according to the 2023 survey, which shows that the country leads the site.
The report suggests in its annual Digital News Report that Tiktok is fast becoming the preferred source of news for netizens.
According to the study, TikTok is used by 20% of 18 to 24-year-olds to keep up with current events, an increase of 5% over the previous year.
According to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism's annual Digital News Report, audiences are paying more attention to celebrities, influencers, and social media personalities than to journalists on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat.
The fastest-growing social network in the study, TikTok is utilized for news by 20% of users aged 18 to 24, an increase of 5% from the previous year.
From 6 out of 10 respondents in 2017, less than half of poll participants indicated any interest in the news.
The headline rate of 36% is seven percentage points higher than the figure in 2017 but two points lower than the previous year.
The survey indicates diminishing interest in news in a vast number of nations, particularly among younger and difficult-to-reach populations, and high levels of selective news avoidance.
Many complain that news reports are excessively monotonous or "emotionally draining."In comparison to the United States, Canada, or Singapore, TikTok is far more commonly used for political news in Peru, where it has been utilized by students to organize political protests, as well as in Kenya and Brazil.
In comparison to the US, Canada, Singapore, and Brazil, audiences in Peru, Brazil, and Kenya pay more attention to politics.
