Most Teens Get Their News from YouTube - and That's NOT a Good Thing
Teens are notoriously not big on seeking out and reading the news day to day, yet here we are (teens and parents alike) stuck at home during this pandemic, glued to our screens and itching for any new piece of information we can glean. When will this pandemic be over? How will it affect our economy? What are the symptoms we should be tracking? Will we suffer from so much screen time?
Our teens want answers just as much as we do, unfortunately, they often look for them in the wrong places. We are living in a time when many Americans prefer to get their news in small bites from social media recommendations, rather than from the more in depth analysis of legitimate news organizations. But we now know that this reliance creates what are known as information “filter bubbles” where we only see news we agree with and are never exposed to alternative or opposing views. Sure this may be a comfortable place to live, but is it really beneficial for us as individuals or as a society?
I am more and more convinced that gathering information solely from social media is leading to some pretty terrible outcomes and few groups are more vulnerable to the negative repercussions of this than teenagers.
According to a survey by Common Sense Media conducted in the summer of 2019:
More than half of teens (54%) get news from social media, and 50% get news from YouTube at least a few times a week. Fewer than half, 41%, get news reported by news organizations in print or online at least a few times a week, and only 37% get news on TV at least a few times a week.
Teens are about equally likely to say they are primarily informed about current events by news organizations (31%) as they are by family, friends, or teachers (33%) and by influencers or celebrities they follow online (31%).
Among all teens who get their news on YouTube — regardless of how often — exactly half (50%) say they most often find news on YouTube because it was recommended by YouTube itself (i.e., as a “watch next” video or in the sidebar).
So why is this so important? Two main reasons:
Legitimate news organizations have the primary objective of finding out the facts, vetting them, analyzing them and presenting them to readers or viewers so that they can make informed choices. This leads to a more informed American public who can make smart choices and don’t forget - these teens will all be voting soon enough. Do we want voters who make their decisions based on the sound bite opinions of influencers or extremists or journalists devoted to finding and delivering the truth?
YouTube and Facebook have the primary objective of getting views on their videos in order to simply to make money. More views = more money. So their algorithm is designed to recommend videos based on the interest of the person searching - NOT to offer them a healthy and balanced variety of views! In order to keep that viewer engaged, the videos that are recommended in the side bar are more and more specific and narrow in their scope creating a rabbit hole of extremism. This can ultimately lead to radicalization of people who are desperately looking for answers and not accessing a wide variety of sources.
With our kids spending so much time at home right now and an excessive amount of time on YouTube and social media, this topic probably merits some discussion. It’s worth asking them where they get their news and how they know what is legitimate. I recommend engaging in conversation about different perspectives on a current issue and modeling what it looks like to really try to find reliable sources.
A great place to start is by sharing with them the new podcast Rabbit Hole. The first episode is about a young man who became radicalized by YouTube:
https://www.nytimes.com/column/rabbit-hole
The Times also did a great in depth investigation last year. It’s a great interactive piece:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/08/technology/youtube-radical.html
In terms of where teens should be getting their news - they can still go to their social media platforms, but they should follow legitimate news organizations. All legitimate news organizations maintain Twitter accounts, Instagram, Snapchats, and YouTube channels. Some examples include:
For fact checking sources have them use:
And here is a great article by Diana Graber, Media literacy expert, on how she likes to teach kids about “fake news”
https://www.parenttoolkit.com/general/news/technology/how-to-help-students-spot-fake-news
Teaching our kids how to understand sources, read media critically and analyze news is one of the most important skills for them as they venture into this chaotic world. Let’s use this time at home to teach them how to gather information in a smart and conscious way.