Social natives get information first on Instagram, TikTok and others

It’s a fact, the younger generations have an ambivalent relationship with the media. Although they place little trust in the various modes of access to information and in journalists, young people are nonetheless fond of news. The latest report Digital News Report from the Reuters Institute details the media consumption of people aged 18 to 34. This age group includes two types of informed: social natives, these young adults aged 18 to 24 fed on social networks; and the digital natives25-34 year olds who have grown up with digital, but not with Meta (former Facebook), Instagram and others.

It turns out that they do not have the same relationship with the different modes of access to information. 45% of Britons between the ages of 25 and 34 go to mainstream media websites or mobile apps to follow the news. In comparison, only 28% of their compatriots aged 18 to 24 do the same. The latter are more likely to get information from social networks, aggregators and search engines than their elders.

Their cute sin: very visual sources of information like Instagram, Telegram and more recently TikTok. The Chinese application has established itself, in just a few years, in the media routine of social natives. Thus, 8% of Britons aged 18 to 24 use it to follow the latest news. However, they are much more likely to consult Twitter (21%) and Instagram (17%) with this in mind. If their elders, digital nativesalso get information on social networks, they are much more loyal to Meta, with whom they grew up.

information differently

Younger generations prefer social networks to traditional media for multiple reasons. They appreciate the informal tone of the informative content that these platforms host, as well as the freedom of media treatment that they allow. “On television, you always see the same things, but on YouTube, Spotify, TikTok, there is a great variety“, explains an 18-year-old Brazilian to researchers at the Reuters Institute. “We can have access to all that and see that there is diversity and [des façons de vivre différentes des nôtres]”.

If the information may be lighter on social networks, it is not unrelated to major world events such as the war in Ukraine. Smartphones generalize the possibilities of live, both for journalists and for people who are not media professionals. These tools allow soldiers like the Ukrainian soldier Alex Hook to improvise war reporters and post videos showing the conflict as they experience it “from the inside” on TikTok.

But this ease of access to information is not without danger. The company NewsGuard, which specializes in combating the spread of false information and assessing the reliability of online information, has thus found that TikTok users find themselves confronted with false content or propaganda. about the war in Ukraine. The platform’s algorithm would even recommend such misleading content.

Although the younger generations particularly appreciate very visual sources of information, they are not turning away from the written and the audio. Most under-35s would rather read the latest news than watch it on video, report finds Digital News Report. On this point, they are not so different from their elders.

Tired of the news anxiety

They also have the same relationship to anxiety-provoking information as their parents and grandparents. Nearly 40% of the world’s population would knowingly avoid reading the latest news, compared to 29% in 2017. This phenomenon is particularly visible in certain territories such as Brazil and the United Kingdom, but also among younger generations. A third of those under 35 are turning away from news because they have a negative impact on their mood, and 39% because they find them too repetitive. “Yet many young people do not necessarily avoid all information. In fact, many of them deliberately avoid topics like politics and Covid-19 in particular.“, can we read in the Reuters report.

This lassitude is explained by the fact that the under 35s would like the news to better reflect their (many) concerns. In particular, they would like the media to cover more of the latest news about celebrities, the entertainment industry and education. “Many types of topics that are often considered “youthful” — for example, mental health and well-being, the environment and climate change, funny or satirical news — do not necessarily translate into greater public interest. share of all young people in all markets“, note the researchers of the Reuters institute.

However, a study by the News Media Alliance affirmed the opposite. The American professional organization had found that Americans aged 21 to 29 wanted the media to deal more often with issues relating to social justice, the climate emergency or even women’s rights. “Gen Z wants to see themselves in the media, and they want to feel recognized“, affirmed the News Media Alliance.

The media must therefore rethink their operation to restore the confidence of this young audience and better meet their expectations. As Reuters writes, “One of the ways to increase the relevance of the media can be to broaden its appeal — by addressing topics of interest to young people, developing multimedia and [réseaux sociaux] and aligning the content and tone with the format — rather than entirely replacing what they already do or hoping that young people will eventually buy into what has always been done“.