Are social networks becoming the primary platforms by which people discover digital content?

According to Pew Research Center, more than 60 percent of Facebook and Twitter users actually use these platforms to obtain their news — a number that has been growing since 2012. Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and WhatsApp have essentially become content providers.

Facebook’s new Instant Articles feature, for example, allows digital publishers to upload stories directly to Facebook. On one hand, articles load quickly and seamlessly on the Facebook mobile interface to a vast number of readers; on the other hand, publishers lose control of their content distribution and, potentially, they lose ad revenue from that content.

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