After playing with Infogr.am for a bit to get used to it, I decided to do some more in-depth statistical research on social media use among young adults. One issue that I kept encountering this spring among college students was trying to create citations for social media stories (e.g. Twitter). That set off ye olde lightbulb; how many adults access news through social media?

Thanks to a great Pew Research survey, I was able to compile the following infographic on the prevalence of social media as a news source among adults. Why is this important for library professionals? Part of my responsibilities include fostering critical thinking among my students through library instruction and one-on-one consultations. If my patrons, my students, do not have those critical thinking skills, they could possibly use flawed news & data provided by these social media sites as “real”. This is an emerging issue, for sure.