Survey shows increased trust in social media
Social media has improved its trustworthiness among users younger than 30. A new survey shows that US adults under 30 are now almost as likely to trust information from social media sites as they are to trust information from national news outlets. A recent survey from the Reuters Institute showed levels of trust in news on social media, search engines, and messaging apps is consistently lower than audience trust in information in the news media more generally.
The US-based Pew Research Center says that users srill are much more likely to trust information from local and national news sources, except among the youngest adults:
“Adults under 30 are now almost as likely to trust information from social media sites as they are to trust information from national news outlets.”
In a recent Pew Research Center survey, half of 18- to 29-year-olds in the US say they have some or a lot of trust in the information they get from social media sites. 56% of them say the same about information from national news organizations. Biggest trust is in local news media. 62% of the young adults say they have some or a lot of trust in information from local news organizations.
“The share of adults under 30 who express at least some trust in information from social media is at its highest level (tied with summer 2019), while the share with trust in national news is at its lowest level (tied with last year). Indeed, the 6 percentage point gap between the share of young adults who trust social media sites and the share who trust national news outlets is the smallest for any age group since the Center first asked this question in 2016”, the Pew Research report says.
“Adults in all other age groups remain considerably less likely to trust information from social media sites than information from national and local news outlets. This is largely due to much lower levels of trust in the information they get on social media sites.”
“Whereas half of adults under 30 have at least some trust in the information on these sites, the share falls to 36% among those ages 30 to 49, 25% among those 50 to 64, and just 20% among those 65 and older. In turn, older Americans, particularly those 50 and older, are often more likely than younger Americans to express trust in national and local news outlets.”
Local news outlets are the most trusted among all age groups, but trust in these outlets among overall is at its lowest point in recent years. 71% have some or a lot of trust in the information they get from local news outlets, but this is down from a high of 85% in both 2019 and 2017. This decline has occurred across many demographic groups and in both political parties, the Pew says.
“Republicans and Democrats remain far apart when it comes to trust in the news, particularly from national news organizations.”
77% of Democrats and independents who lean Democratic say they have at least some trust in the information they get from national news outlets, 35 percentage points higher than the 42% of Republicans and Republican leaners who say the same. “This aligns with previous Center research showing that party is the strongest factor in the public’s broader attitudes toward the news media”, the Pew Research report says.
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