Facebook crosses 1.8bn users globally

Facebook has become the leading source of news for many of its 1.8bn users globally. According to PEW research centre survey on digital news habits found that one in 10 respondents who clicked on a link to a news story identified Facebook as a news outlet when asked to cite the source of the story they read.

This put social media sites at a similar level to CNN and Fox news. Facebook is under scrutiny for its role in spreading fake news, during the US presidential elections.The US voters said according to another PEW survey  CNN, Fox News and Facebook were their top three sources of election news.

Media outlets have failed after piling into newsletters, and mobile phone push notifications to drive readers to their stories.