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First Posted: 10/24/2013

(AP) News is an incidental part of the Facebook experience for most users. But since so many people regularly check the social media site, a study suggests Facebook shouldn’t be overlooked as a news source.


The Pew Research Center, in a study released Thursday, said that just under half of adult Facebook users say that they get news from Facebook links posted by friends or news sources they follow. Still, the 47 percent of people who say they get news through Facebook represents 30 percent of the adult population.


Pew director Amy Mitchell says Facebook represents a different way of consuming news, where it is picked up as a part of doing something else as opposed to being actively sought out.


Associated Press