For 26-year-old Istiaque Abrar, the daily news no longer comes from newspapers or television. Instead, it appears on his mobile screen between memes, reels, and casual conversations. A graduate of a leading public university in Bangladesh and now employed at a private bank, Abrar depends on social media to stay informed.
“I get most of my news from social media like Instagram and Facebook,” Abrar says during a short break at work. “It’s fast, easy, and always available.” While he communicates with friends and family through apps like Messenger, WhatsApp, and Snapchat, his daily updates come primarily from new-age media outlets that publish directly on social platforms.
Abrar is far from an isolated example. Social media has become one of the most prominent mediums for news consumption worldwide in recent years, especially among younger audiences, according to global surveys. For instance, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s latest Digital News Report notes that, for the first time, social media has become the most common source of news in the United States (54%). Similar patterns are evident across much of Latin America, Africa, and parts of Asia.
Bangladesh reflects these trends as well. Although the distinction between social media and news websites was not specified, a survey conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) for the Media Reform Commission in early 2025 shows that around 59% of news consumers prefer mobile phones as their primary device.
The growing popularity of consuming news on social media is partly driven by social media–native outlets that describe themselves as ‘bite-sized media.’ Instead of producing original reports, they republish user-generated content from social platforms or repackage mainstream news with aesthetic visuals and branding designed to match social media trends.
The Rise of Social Media-Native Outlets
Right now, dozens of these social media channels are swarming the Bangladeshi social media space. Each month, or even each week, new ones appear. However, only a handful have been active for a significant time, maintain a steady revenue stream, and possess a strong social media presence.
One of them is The Front Page, one of the most recognized ‘bite-sized media’ outlets currently operating in Bangladesh, which has garnered more than half a million followers across its Facebook and Instagram pages.
When asked about their emergence as a news-sharing platform on social media, Imtiaz Wasif, Head of Business Development at The Front Page, explained that they see themselves as ‘news curators’ rather than a media outlet.
‘We do not compete with media outlets, nor do we have the budget or the expertise for that. We repackage news content with suitable headlines and a summarized version of the story, along with eye-catching visuals that match the interests of social media users.’
According to Imtiaz, social media’s algorithm also plays a major role in shaping what they choose to cover. ‘Most of the time we select news based on how it performs on social media, whether it will get reactions and shares, and whether our followers will accept it,’ he said.
He further explained how the idea for the platform came about. ‘The idea came to us because mainstream media outlets often face limitations on social media. We feel that the way they share news does not match how social media users, especially younger audiences, prefer to consume it. Digital natives have different news consumption patterns, and our goal is to respond to that taste.’
Catchy, witty and humorous headlines and body texts are central to the strategy these channels use to drive engagement. They also rely heavily on pop-culture references, memes and elements that mainstream media would consider too subjective. For example, it would not be surprising to see Indian billionaire Adani’s face edited with horns to portray him as a villain.
These social media-native outlets also found a novel way to monetize their content without sharing revenue with platform companies. The narrow strip at the bottom of a photocard has emerged as valuable advertising space, now widely used by Bangladeshi advertisers. This space is known as GPI (Guaranteed Post Impression).
Imtiaz recalled how the idea of GPI first emerged as a new advertising opportunity. “During a flood, we launched a campaign to raise funds for the affected communities. We used the lower portion of the post to display a mobile banking number for donations, and we received a significant amount of money, far more than we expected.” That unexpected result inspired the concept of GPI.
As leading mobile banking services and several telecom operators began approaching them, the idea quickly spread across social media–native outlets and was eventually adopted by mainstream media outlets as well.
Additionally, regular followers of these pages will notice a steady stream of promotional posts tied to corporate partnerships and business events. These branded contents have become a major source of revenue for the channels. However, this trend is raising concerns about blurred boundaries between advertising, public relations, and news. Media observers note that such dependency on sponsored content may influence editorial choices, as the outlets could avoid publishing material that might damage the reputation of their advertisers.
The ‘Theft’ Allegation
Debate over content ownership is intensifying as social-media-based news pages continue to expand their reach. Editors from mainstream outlets say many of these pages regularly repackage professionally produced news without permission or any formal agreement.
Azad Baig, Digital Growth Editor at The Daily Star, describes the practice as “a form of theft.” He says the pages extract key information from published reports, compress them into short photocards or summaries, and often mention the original outlet only by name. According to him, some of these pages also earn advertising revenue from the posts while offering nothing in return to the media houses that produced the original journalism. He calls the business model “deeply unethical” and says affected outlets would have grounds to seek legal action or financial compensation.
Whether such practices fall under legal violation remains unclear. Sayeed Al-Zaman, Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Jahangirnagar University, says the legality of reusing news content varies across countries. In the United States, aggregators can reuse limited parts of news under “fair use” or quotation rules, while the European Union requires permission and, in some cases, payment. “I am not certain about Bangladesh’s specific laws on this matter, as it is a relatively new issue,” he says, adding that clearer guidelines may be needed to avoid recurring disputes between media organizations and aggregators.
Azad says the growth of these social-media pages has not changed mainstream newsrooms’ own digital strategies. He notes that legacy outlets have been producing photocards and short videos for years and argues that the only difference now is that Facebook’s algorithm gives newer pages “extra mileage.”
The social-media outlets reject the accusation of theft. Imtiaz Wasif says financial limitations shape their work. “If they call us ‘parasitic,’ what can we do?” he says. “We don’t have the budget to employ reporters. But we help their news reach more people.”
Rafij Khan, Editor of The News Compress, which operates multiple Facebook pages with more than 100,000 followers, also denies wrongdoing. He says providing credit and adding the link in the comments makes the practice fair. “We don’t copy-paste the content. We change it,” he says. “As long as we stay factual and give credit, I don’t think it is unethical.”
Rafij argues that weaknesses within mainstream newsrooms have contributed to the rise of social-media-driven outlets. He says many traditional organizations failed to capture online audiences due to outdated branding and limited platform-specific strategies. “There are gaps in the mainstream,” he says. “We make the content visually strong and easy to consume, and that’s what works on social media.”
Al-Zaman says that in the absence of clear laws in Bangladesh, aggregators should at least follow basic ethical practices. He identifies copy-paste republishing with minimal changes as “churnalism,” an unethical form of content reuse that undermines journalists’ original work. He suggests reusing only limited parts of stories, crediting the source clearly, and adding context where needed. He also says discussions between media outlets and aggregators could help shape consensus-based norms and reduce conflict.
Political Alignment and Polarization
As social-media–based news outlets expand their reach, media observers are increasingly concerned about their political inclinations and the impact these biases may have on audiences.
Azad Baig notes that some of these outlets do not hide their leanings. “Many of these pages are spreading fake news, and some are publicly taking political positions,” he says. According to him, such tendencies reflect an underlying pattern of selective news sharing and narrative shaping.
Assistant Editor of FactWatch, one of the leading fact-checking organizations in Bangladesh, Shuvasish Dip points out that the stylistic choices used by these platforms also influence political perception. “Young audiences prefer short, humorous, visually engaging news,” he says. “But when these outlets twist or reinterpret stories to fit their own narratives, they often remove essential context.”
Shuvasish adds that such practices can mislead audiences, especially when posts go viral. “Sometimes, in trying to make news more attractive or making it go viral, they intentionally or unintentionally spread content that is false,” he says. This, he warns, contributes to skewed political understanding among followers who rely on social media as their primary news source.
Offering a different perspective, Alif Noor Anan, a director of the bite-sized media platform The Inquest, argues that expecting complete neutrality from any media outlet may be unrealistic. “Absolute neutrality does not really exist,” he says, noting that media organizations everywhere are influenced, directly or indirectly, by political or economic actors.
Anan also points out that the current diversification of media voices should be seen as part of a broader transition toward democratic openness after a long period of tight media control. He suggests that as the landscape expands and more stakeholders enter the sector, “the overall environment will gradually move closer to media plurality.”
Experts say the trend points to a broader shift in how information circulates online. Dr. Moiyen Zalal Chowdhury, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at BRAC University, observes that the once-clear line between mainstream media and digital-native platforms is steadily fading. He says social platforms operate in a “faster, more interactive environment driven by algorithmic incentives,” which shapes the way stories are framed and shared.
According to him, Bangladesh is not unique; many digital-native creators around the world lean on emotion and identity because such content performs well on these platforms, drawing audiences toward sources that reflect their own views. This does not automatically lead to polarization, he notes, but selective engagement can strengthen divisions or make them seem more pronounced than they actually are.
Usama Rafid is a Lecturer of Media Studies and Journalism at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB). His research focus is on journalism practices and their interaction with media technologies and business models.
