Entertainment content outstrips news in terms of popularity on the web, Telegram leads among messengers - research

The share of Telegram in the use of messengers by Ukrainians is consistently high. At the same time , news is mostly consumed in messengers. At the same time, entertainment content on the network is more popular than news. Such data are presented in a study of the peculiarities of media consumption of Ukrainians, presented by Gradus Research in October 2024, UNN writes.

Details

According to the study, despite the ban on the use of this resource for civil servants and the military on official devices, Telegram in Ukraine continues to rank first among messengers (90%).

It is followed by Viber (77%) and Facebook Messenger (51%). The share of users of these platforms decreased slightly compared to March and October 2023. Instead, the share of WhatsApp increased from 21% to 30% over the year.

At the same time, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are among the top social networks in Ukraine.

"Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are the most popular social networks at the moment. In general, 72% of respondents used Facebook in the last week, and 61% used Instagram," the researchers report.

As noted, such networks are an important platform not only for news, but also for social interaction and self-expression.

At the same time, news, according to the study, is losing its primacy among media content categories.

News content is giving way to entertainment content - feature films and TV series are the main category of content for Ukrainians, chosen by 79% of respondents. They are followed by news and socio-political programs (68%) and music programs (63%). "Such changes correlate with changes in the mood of citizens in the third year of the full-scale war in Ukraine: people are less likely to expect a quick end to the fighting, news fatigue is accumulating, and the intensity of following events in real time is decreasing," the researchers point out.

As noted, news is mostly consumed in messengers.

"Telegram and other messengers are the key channels for receiving news, used by 75% of respondents, followed by social media such as Facebook and Instagram (56%). Video platforms, including YouTube, also rank highly (51%), indicating the popularity of the multimedia news format," the study says.

And video platforms remain the dominant source of entertainment content.

"For entertainment, Ukrainians most often turn to YouTube and similar video platforms, accounting for 63% of media consumption in the entertainment sector. The popularity of these platforms is especially high among young people, who actively use various types of digital video content," the researchers report.

Social networks and messengers are also actively present among the sources of content for entertainment: 58% and 53% of Ukrainians surveyed said they consume video content there, respectively.

At the same time, the use of streaming services is becoming a habit. According to the study, YouTube Music is the most popular among streaming services with a share of 45% of respondents. Spotify is in second place (15%). Ukrainians are increasingly listening to music or watching videos on these platforms, reflecting a gradual shift away from traditional media in favor of digital platforms.

"The growing popularity of streaming services and social networks as the main channels for entertainment indicates a significant impact of global trends, particularly among younger audiences. Such changes indicate the formation of new content consumption habits, which is likely to have a long-term impact on the Ukrainian media space and determine its further development," comments Yevheniia Blyzniuk, sociologist, founder and director of Gradus Research.

For reference

The study was conducted by Gradus Research using a self-completed questionnaire in the Gradus mobile application. The sample reflects the population structure of cities with more than 50 thousand inhabitants aged 18-60 by gender, age, settlement size, and region, excluding temporarily occupied territories and territories of active hostilities. Period of the field: October 25-27, 2024. Sample size: 1050 respondents.