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Younger Americans More Likely to Trust Information on Social Media, Study Finds

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U.S. adults under 30 trust information on social media sites almost as much as they trust information from national news outlets, Pew Research Center finds. Except among these youngest adults, Americans remain much more likely to trust information from local and national news organizations than information on social media.

Among survey respondents 18–29 years old, half say they have “some” or “a lot” of trust in the information they see on social media. Fifty-six percent say the same about the information they receive from national news organizations. The study does not specify the sources of information that people encounter on social media, meaning that the information could come from any social media user.

The share of adults under 30 who express at least some trust in the information they find on social media has reached its highest level, while the percentage of that age group that trusts national news is at its lowest level, Pew finds. Whereas half of U.S. adults under 30 express at least some trust in information on social media, the share falls to 36 percent among respondents ages 30–49, to 25 percent among those 50–64 and to 20 percent among respondents 65 and older.

A large majority of Americans surveyed (71 percent) has “some” or “a lot” of trust in the information they receive from local news outlets, down from a high of 85 percent in 2019.


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