KATHMANDU: Instagram is likely to win the race against Twitter as a major news source platform, according to a recent finding.

According to the 2020 Reuters Institute Digital News report, young people are increasingly using Instagram as a news source with the use of Instagram doubling since 2018.

Instagram, owned by Facebook is accessed by 85 per cent of people. As of May 2020, there are 1.4 million Instagram users in Nepal, 44.9 per cent of them women and 55.1 per cent men.The largest user group are youths from 18-24 age groups. Compared to that, the share of Twitter users is very less wherein Facebook is the most used social networking site in Nepal.

"Instagram's become very popular with younger people", said Nic Newman, lead author of the report. "They really respond well to stories that are told simply and well with visual images".

The recent stand-out visual stories about climate change, Black lives matter movement and coronavirus may have helped to keep the masse engaged in in the platform.

"It's not that one necessarily replaces the other," Newman added. "They might use Facebook and Instagram, or might use Twitter and Instagram."

The report further elaborated that only 26 per cent of the respondent trusted social media about the coronavirus  while 59 per cent of them trusted national government and news organisations.

However, according to the survey conducted in 40 countries, only 38 per cent said that they trusted the news most of the time.