ANM are also sought out for party-political perspectives, used as platforms for idea development in (left-wing) political movements, or as communities of likeminded that give users a sense that they are not alone with their opinions, which some feel are marginalized in MSM.

Users have lower levels of trust in mainstream news than the rest of the population. This is the case for users of right-wing _and_ left-wing ANM and is the case whether we look at coverage of news in general or specific topics (immigration, climate, economy).