For the majority of Ukrainians, social networks became the main source of thews about the war—76.6 of the respondents use them for getting information. The most popual networks are Telegram, YouTube, and Facebook. At the same time, Viber as a source of information is used mostly by the middle-age users, Twitter is popular among the youth, and TikTok found its niche amonf the respondents aged 60-69.
This is the data of the poll Kyiv International Institute of Sociology hold from May 3, to 26, 2022, commissioned by the Civil Network OPORA. Those respondents who answered that they consume news through social media were asked which exactly social networks they use.
Most respondents used Telegram (65.7%), YouTube (61.2%) and Facebook (57.8%) to receive news in the last two months. 48% of respondents used Viber, 29.1% — Instagram, 19.5% — TikTok, 8.9% — Twitter. About 2% of respondents used other social media (WhatsApp, Signal, etc.) to receive news updates.
Men mostly recieve the news from YouTube (67.2%), Telegram (63%), and Facebook (54.8%). This “rating” for women is a litle different: first goes Telegram (68%), then Facebook (62.1%), and only then YouTube (56%). Viber and Instagram are a source of nes for 44.5% and 24.6% of men respectively, and for 51.1% and 32.9% of women respectively.
Young people from 18 to 39 years of age consume news mainly through Telegram (from 72.4% among respondents aged 30-39, to 86.7% among respondents aged 18-29) and YouTube (from 57.6% among respondents aged 30-39, to 58.5% among respondents aged 18-29). Elderly respondents (over 60 years of age) prefer YouTube (over 61.4% of respondents) and Facebook (from 43.3% among respondents over 70 years of age to 59.3% among respondents 60-69 years of age). Viber as a source of news is mainly used by middle-aged users, Twitter is more popular among young peoplу. TikTok found its niche not only among 18-29-year-olds: 24.2% of respondents aged 18-29 years use it as a source of news, as well as 23.4% of respondents aged 60-69.
Facebook was the most popular for news consumption in the western regions. In the East, Ukrainians are much more likely to use Telegram. The largest share of Instagram users who use it as a source of news has been found in the southern regions of Ukraine, and Twitter — in the central regions.
Media Consumption of Ukrainians in a Full-Scale War. OPORA Survey
The survey was commissioned by OPORA and conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology from May, 3 to 26, 2022. Computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) surveyed 2,009 respondents living in all regions of Ukraine (except AR Crimea) using random sampling of mobile phone numbers (with random generation of phone numbers and subsequent statistical weighting). The survey was conducted among adult population (aged 18 years and older) of Ukrainian citizens who at the time of the survey lived in Ukraine (within the boundaries controlled by the Ukrainian government before February 24, 2022). The sample did not include residents of territories temporarily outside the control of the Ukrainian government before February 24, 2022 (the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol, some districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions), as well as citizens who left abroad after February, 24, 2022. The field phase lasted from May, 19 to 24, 2022. The statistical error of the sample (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.1) does not exceed: 2.4% for indicators close to 50%, 2.1% – for indicators close to 25%, 1.5% – for indicators close to 10%.