For many young Americans, keeping up with the news no longer starts with opening a newspaper, visiting a news website, or googling for the latest headlines. Instead, news is increasingly finding them while they scroll through social media, watch videos, or browse any number of other digital platforms.m
A recent Pew Research Center study found that young Americans are more likely than older adults to encounter news rather than to deliberately seek it out. Among adults ages 18 to 29, 52% say they mostly get up-to-date information about news events because they happen to come across it. Only 40% say they seek out information from the news. For adults 65 and older, the numbers are almost reversed, with 68% seeking out up-to-date information and 28% encountering it by chance.
The difference becomes even more noticeable when narrowing the consumed content to opinions and humorous content. Seventy-two percent of adults ages 18 to 29 say they mostly come across opinions about the news rather than seek them out. The same percentage say they mostly come across funny posts about the news from reaction videos, rage bait, or click bait.
This shift shows how dramatically digital platforms have changed the way young Americans consume information. Instead of deciding to search for a particular story, users can encounter breaking news while scrolling through a feed filled with entertainment, advertisements, sports and personal updates. Allowing for quick answers instead of in depth research on a specific topic.
Pew Research Center’s reporting on Americans’ changing news habits reflects this experience. One participant described the modern news environment by saying, “Even when you’re not pursuing it, something’s being put in front of you.”
That passive form of news consumption can be beneficial because it exposes people to stories they may not have intentionally searched for. A young person who rarely visits a news website could still learn about an election, severe weather or an important national event because a story appeared on their social media feed.
Passive consumption brings other challenges as the internet and passive news can simply spoon feed people opinions and people will adopt them. The lack of critical thinking skills will rise and the desensitization of young people via social media is not something to cheer about either.
“With everyone having instant access to internet and the short attention span people have today,” said Michael Katz an Ole Miss Sports Reporter, “you have to be able to quick and concise with information while grabbing peoples attention and keeping it.”
Research from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism has identified a similar trend among younger audiences. The institute found that young people experience a high level of what researchers call “background” or “indirect” exposure to news through social media and other forms of online content. The research argues that young people do not always need to seek out news because “news comes to them.”
However, encountering news does not necessarily mean understanding it.
Pew found that 70% of Americans who get in-depth or up-to-date information by chance say the news is generally easy for them to understand. That compares with 81% of people who seek out those types of information.
The concern goes beyond understanding. Social media can also determine which stories users see in the first place. Pew found that large majorities of users on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram say the platforms influence which news stories appear in their feeds.
Richard Fletcher, director of research at the Reuters Institute, has studied how incidental exposure affects news consumption. Research he co-authored found that incidental exposure to news is particularly strong among younger people and those with less interest in news.
For journalists, this creates a difficult challenge. News organizations are no longer competing only against other news organizations. They are competing against everything else on a person’s screen.
A reporter can spend hours researching a complicated story, interviewing sources and checking facts, only for a reader to encounter a short headline or social media post and move on within seconds.
That reality has changed the responsibilities of journalists. Reporters still have to produce accurate and credible information, but they also have to find ways to capture an audience’s attention. Headlines, videos, graphics and social media posts have become important tools for getting people to stop scrolling and engage with a story.
The challenge is making sure that effort to attract attention does not come at the expense of context. A short social media post may introduce someone to a major story, but it cannot always explain the history, consequences and different perspectives behind it.
For young Americans, this shift could have long-term consequences for the future of journalism. If people become accustomed to receiving news passively, news organizations may have to work harder to convince audiences to seek out additional information and understand the bigger picture.
Accidental news consumption is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it can introduce people to stories they might otherwise miss. The concern is what happens after that first encounter.
The future of journalism may depend on whether journalists can turn that accidental moment of exposure into genuine interest. Getting someone to see the news is only the first step. Getting them to understand it may be the bigger challenge.
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