In a matter of hours, a news story can travel through Wilson Hall before anyone has opened a news site. An Instagram clip can be reposted, screenshots can be shared, and by lunch, much of the student body can have an opinion on information they have never even seen firsthand.
For many high school students, this is just how the news works. Social media is so ingrained in students’ daily lives that it can be difficult to avoid encountering false or inaccurate information. The more useful question is not whether we should be getting news from social media but whether we know how to fact-check what we see.
The shift from traditional news sources toward social media is well documented. A recent national survey conducted by the Media Insight Project—a collaboration including the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the American Press Institute—found that 57% of teenagers regularly get information on national issues and events from influencers or independent creators. According to Pew Research Center, at least 40% of teens on TikTok and Instagram say news is a reason they use those apps. That reliance is unsurprising given the apps’ popularity: 63% of teens use TikTok and 61% use Instagram.
A large following does not guarantee that a creator follows the same editorial standards as a professional news organization.
For many high school students approaching voting age, the ideas they form about elections, health, the economy, and world events won’t come out of nowhere. If those views are built on clips with little evidence, they can become difficult to change even when corrections emerge.
Unlike journalists working for news organizations with established editorial standards, independent creators may not be subject to formal fact-checking or correction processes. A large following does not guarantee that a creator follows the same editorial standards as a professional news organization. Social media feeds are designed around engagement and what keeps users watching rather than accuracy, and a lot of teenagers seem aware of this. The same Media Insight Project survey found that only 12% of teens who get the majority of their news from social media have a high level of confidence in the information they receive. However, low confidence doesn’t necessarily mean careful checking. Doubting a post does not necessarily prevent it from influencing someone’s opinion. Confirmation bias can make information that reinforces existing beliefs particularly persuasive.
A common proposal to fix this issue is for teens to just stop using social media for news. Shut your eyes. Scroll past. What that idea misses is why social media has become such a popular source of news in the first place. The apps are free, immediate, and already built into students’ daily lives. Switching to a dedicated news platform is an extra step.
A more realistic solution is a short habit of verifying. Who posted this? Do they name where the information came from? Many viral posts are screenshots of other posts, leaving the source several steps removed. This habit can be difficult to incorporate into an everyday routine, but even pausing before accepting or sharing a questionable post can lead to more informed opinions.
Social media isn’t going away as a source of news for teenagers. The goal should not be to avoid every piece of news on social media, but to know when to stop scrolling and start checking.
