Social media is the top news source for 16-24s in the UK

"The first Reuters Institute Digital Report has found that 43 per cent of Britons aged between 16 and 24 are now much more likely to access news through social networks, such as Facebook, rather than search engines.
However, the report, which is aiming to chart the consumption of news in the digital age, found that only 11 per cent of over 45s access news stories through social media while 33 per cent still favour search engines.
Facebook has been deemed the most important social network for news – accounting for over half of all news sharing in the UK (55 per cent), followed by email (33 per cent) and Twitter (23 per cent).
Google+ and LinkedIn are not popular sites for sharing news.
Nic Newman, editor of the report, which is supported by the BBC and YouGov, said: “One in five of our UK sample share news stories each week via email or social networks – but in general Europeans are less enthusiastic than Americans about both the sharing of news and other forms of digital participation.”"

Source:  The Telegraph, 9th July 2012