News organisations in the Philippines are still among the most followed information sources online – but they are increasingly drowned in social media noise.

This is one of the key findings of a study by the news website Rappler of the Philippine information ecosystem.

It says that while the top media organisations in the country are still among the leaders of the pack in terms of following on social media, they no longer dominate the information ecosystem. Competition is no longer limited to other news organisations.

Trustworthiness is the primary consideration in following groups, pages, and channels on social media, the study finds. But entertainment value and agreeableness are also major considerations, making audiences vulnerable to sources that deceptively use celebrity content to build online following.

Most respondents in Rappler’s survey said they generally follow accounts that they deem trustworthy. A significant segment, however, also considers entertainment value and agreeableness as major considerations in following social media.

This could be a concern, the study says, because while there are clearer lines between news and entertainment content in traditional media, the same rule often gets blurred in digital.

See more on the Rappler study here.