They don’t call them “influencers” for nothing — and a newly-released Pew Research study confirms what we already suspected: lots of people, but especially teens and young adults, are getting most of their news through social media. Nearly 40 percent of young adults from ages 18 to 29 (so basically, much of Gen Z) reported receiving their news through news influencers on social media. And of those young adults, 65 percent said that it helped shape their perspective on current affairs and social concerns.
There are a couple of problems with this. First, the Pew study found that a staggering 77 percent of these news influencers have zero affiliation or background with a news agency; they’re literally just people who may or may not have any journalistic training, conveying information that may or may not be accurate, fact-checked, or reputable. And secondly, teens have trouble telling the difference between different types of information (i.e., news, advertisements or sponsored content, opinion, and entertainment). According to a new report from the News Literacy Project, less than 2 out of 10 teens correctly identified each information type in a series of questions. Even more concerning, 80 percent of teenagers on social media have come across posts promoting conspiracy theories — and of those teenagers, 81 percent are inclined to believe at least one of these theories.
The fact that Gen Z is getting their news from social media was not lost on the presidential campaigns; just over 45 percent of SheKnows’ own Gen Z Council reported that they get most of their news from TikTok, and in a separate Gen Z Council survey, over half said they followed one or more politicians on a social media platform. (They also reported that only 40 percent reported “frequently” fact-checking their news sources.) A Forbes study showed that 46 percent of Gen Z, specifically, turned to social media first for information of any sort. Subsequently, both the Trump and Harris campaigns spent sizable amounts on various platforms, hoping to reach one of the largest blocs of eligible voters.
Interestingly, the Pew study found that among social media news influencers, 64 percent of those with professional journalism backgrounds don’t express a clear political orientation online; however, only 44 percent of influencers with no journalism experience took a politically-neutral stance. News influencers tend to skew conservative, with 27 percent openly identifying as Republican or pro-Trump, compared to 21 percent who identify as liberal — a trend that holds true across various platforms. On Facebook, for instance, conservative news influencers outnumber their liberal counterparts by a whopping three to one (39 percent to 13 percent ). Similarly, on Instagram, conservatives have a slight edge, making up 30 percent of news influencers versus 25 percent liberals.
Surprisingly, TikTok was the most equal; 25 percent of TikTok news influencers publicly express a right-leaning political orientation, while 28 percent lean left. And TikTok also had the smallest gender gap in news influencers — 50 percent men to 45 percent women, unlike Instagram, where men outnumber women nearly 2 to 1 (63 percent vs. 32 percent) and Facebook, where male influencers greatly outnumber their female counterparts as well (62 percent to 30 percent). But here’s the kicker: unlike political ads on television, social media news influencers aren’t required to disclose whether they’ve been paid by a candidate — so is it any wonder that it’s hard for teens to tell fact from fiction in cases like these?
These studies serve to highlight the critical need for comprehensive digital literacy education. In fact, the predecessor to SheKnows’ Gen Z Council — called Hatch — was built on teaching kids to understand what they’re consuming online. This is especially important in today’s digital age, where kids are constantly bombarded with information and need to learn how to navigate the online world effectively. Unfortunately, school curriculums haven’t exactly caught up with the need for this type of education (or they’re just ill-equipped to do it properly). Though state legislatures are making progress in the push to teach students about digital literacy, the statistics from the Pew study and other similar reports show we’ve still got a lot of work to do.
“Increasingly, as young people’s apps of choice are TikTok and YouTube, the adults have woken up to the fact that quality information is to civic understanding what clean air and water are to civic health,” educational psychologist Sam Wineburg, Ph.D., said in an article published by the American Psychological Association. Luckily, it’s a topic that teenagers are extremely receptive to; the News Literacy Project survey reports that the vast majority of teens (94%) agree that schools should be required to teach media literacy.
As the lines between fact and fiction continue to blur on social media, and with Gen Z relying heavily on social media influencers for news, it’s imperative that we prioritize digital literacy education and empower young people to navigate the online world confidently and effectively. The fate of informed citizenship rests on our ability to teach critical thinking, media savvy, and discernment — and the time to act is now, because the future of civic health rests in their hands.
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