The news consumption habits of young people are ever-changing. Research conducted by Ofcom revealed the main platforms from which young people (aged 16-24) are getting their news are different from findings released a year before.
Interviews with young people in Birmingham city centre showed their dislike for traditional news platforms stems from them being too general, text heavy and boring, although some still read articles. A divide was also found, as some believe news on social media is trustworthy, while others disagreed.
News – popular platforms
The News Consumption report carried out by Ofcom in 2023, showed that 63% of people aged between 16–24 consume their news through social media, compared to 39% of adults, showing the reliance on social media.
The same age group is also far less likely to access the news through the three main traditional outlets (TV, radio and print newspapers) when compared to adults.
The advances in technology are one factor which has led young people to avoid news on TV; even new TVs do not come with news apps already downloaded. Young couple Jenny and Tom said: “We don’t have the app on our TVs to watch BBC and stuff.”
Instead, young people find it more convenient to consume the news on their mobile phones but the social media platforms they access their news from vary, with Instagram taking the lead two years in a row and increasing from 29% in 2022, to 44% in 2023.
Other leading platforms include Facebook at 33%, X (formerly known as Twitter) at 31% and TikTok at 29%, whilst the results of our vox pop interviews showed TikTok to be the main platform. Jenny and Tom both said: “It has to be TikTok for both of us.”
Personalised scrolling and convenience
The rise in news consumption through social media for young people was inevitable, with the convenience of being entertained and informed on various platforms.
Ofcom’s Research Director Yih-Choung Teh said, “Teenagers today are increasingly unlikely to pick up a newspaper or tune into TV news, instead preferring to keep up to date by scrolling through their social feeds.”
Research conducted by Reuters, shows that soon TikTok could be the leading platform for young people. It is important to remember that it only came out three years ago and since then has seen its usage for news increase more than fivefold.
Half the interviewees picked TikTok as their go-to source. George said: “I mostly use TikTok and Instagram, definitely just social media,” and Mohammed said: “A TikTok video will tell you what is happening in one minute and then you can carry on scrolling.”
For others, traditional news websites are not showing them content which has been personally tailored and so they find news articles irrelevant to themselves. Dennis said: “Normal news just shows random events, when on social media it’s more tailored to what I want to see; I mean it tries to appeal to everyone and I’m not everyone.”
When asked if he would ever access BBC or ITV for news he said: “No, I don’t go on those types of news sites, I get mine from social media because it’s convenient.”
Trusting TikTok
Convenience and personal tailoring aside, a problem which revolves around news on social media is its reliability and whether it has been fact-checked before being consumed by younger audiences.
According to Ofcom, young people’s trust for the news seems to vary by platform, with 51% of Twitter users trusting the news the platform provides, compared to a much lower 30% of young TikTok users.
Dennis commented on finding news on TikTok: “Majority of the time I trust it, I try to check up on it,” at which point his friend Hamza interjected: “No, I don’t trust it, there is a lot of false claims on there.”
Others, although a small percentage, seem to be more alert to trusting their sources, as two of the interviewees said the only news they get on TikTok is from the BBC page on the platform. Jenny said: “We watch the BBC page on TikTok for news.”
Alexa showed the most awareness when it comes to news on TikTok: “Social media is where we are mostly getting our information and we need to be careful because no one is going on BBC and ITV to get our news checked.”
Old news dies hard
With social media taking over the news landscape for younger people, there is only a handful of people between the ages of 16-24 accessing news websites.
Heavy text articles tend to put many off from visiting news websites. Mo said: “I find it boring because it’s normally flooded with writing and stuff,” while for others it’s the longwinded access to the articles. Tom said: “That’s just so long – there is so many steps to get to an online article.”
Once again though, there are a select few who still seem to consume news through websites. Jasmine said: “I’d say probably the main one I visit is Al Jazeera but it’s 50/50 between that and social media because sometimes written articles put me off.”
Jenny also revealed she likes to read a written article from time to time as long as there is a visual aid: “I quite like articles when they include pictures, it makes it easier.”
Ofcom’s data and opinions collected from young adults prove that news consumption is moving towards social media, but there is still hope for traditional news outlets with a handful of young people keeping to the old ways.
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