In 2024, it can seem like social media are the news media. On Tuesday, the Pew Research Center released a report that shows more American adults than ever get their news from TikTok, while large slices of the population continue to get news from other social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook and Reddit.
This can make it difficult to determine the content value of any particular media outlet—or even of the media as a whole. As someone who spent decades as a journalist and who now works with startup founders looking for attention on their innovations, I’ve seen firsthand how this media transformation has changed the equation when it comes to getting the word out. The fact is this: In a time when there is more noise than ever, the key is to know how to establish signal.