How Gen Z uses social media to stay informed — and sometimes misinformed

In the age of doomscrolling and brain rot, Gen Z spends an average of 2 hours and 55 minutes a day on social media. When it comes to politics and social platforms, news influencers are everywhere. 

Almost 40% of young adults aged 18-29 reported receiving their news through social media news influencers, according to a Pew Research study in November. Of those young adults, 65% said influencers helped shape their perspective on social concerns and current affairs. 

According to a separate study done in September, Pew Research found that social media news consumers in the U.S. mostly use platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter) and Reddit. 

Regular news consumers aged 18-29 tended to use TikTok and X, while those aged 30-49 mostly used Reddit, Instagram and Facebook. Consumers who identified as men used platforms like Reddit and X more, while those who identified as women used TikTok and Facebook. 

Social media and politics 

During the 2024 election cycle, both Republicans and Democrats credentialed content creators and influencers to cover their conventions and share their political messages. 

X, formerly known as Twitter, is the most popular social media platform used by news influencers, according to the November Pew Research study. The study also found that news influencers are mostly men and more likely to identify as right-leaning than left-leaning. 

April Eichmeier, an assistant professor in the department of emerging media at the University of St. Thomas, said the impact of political influencers was one of the most interesting dynamics of the election. 

“They’re on a lot of platforms,” Eichmeier said. “Any candidate of course wants to be where their audience is, and social media, particularly for Gen Z, you have to be there if you want to speak with Gen Z.” 

Eichmeier said TikTok gained a lot of attention during the election because it is extensively used by Gen Z. She added that despite being relatively new on the scene, TikTok has been controversial, and the app is facing a possible U.S. ban.

“It reaches the audience, no question,” Eichmeier said about politicians still using the app. “But TikTok in particular, I think it puts some politicians in an interesting spot.” 

For example, both Vice President Kamala Harris and President-elect Donald Trump used TikTok extensively during their campaigns. When Harris became the Democratic candidate in July, her campaign hired a pack of “feral 25-year-olds,” to latch on to popular editing styles and trending music, according to her deputy campaign manager, Rob Flaherty. 

Harris’ videos included viral videos on issues such as abortion and climate change along with Trump bloopers. Trump’s TikTok similarly featured the candidate with trendy videos and music while highlighting issues such as the border, economy and immigration. 

In terms of whether social media may have influenced the election, Eichmeier said the thing to keep in mind is who someone votes for or why they vote is complex.

“It’s not just, ‘I’m influenced by a campaign and therefore I go vote,’” Eichmeier said. “People exist in a context that includes other people and social institutions.” 

Gen Z’s view

Ananya Pliam-ganapathy, a University of Minnesota student, said she gets most of her news from Instagram. 

“Instagram, like 1,000%,” Pliam-ganapathy said.

Pliam-ganapathy added that she feels the use of social media for news influenced the way people voted in the election, including herself. 

Based on her experience, Pliam-ganapathy said many people who are right or right-learning get their information from podcasts, such as Spotify podcasts, while those who lean left tend to use Instagram. 

She said she received a lot of content that was left-focused because a lot of her family and people that she knows lean left, and that she doesn’t get a lot of content from the other side. 

“So think about it this way,” Eichmeier said. “You have an influencer such as Joe Rogan, right? He’s on a podcast, he’s on social media, there’s other people who are delivering their information about politics, or information and opinions. [Delivering] information right or wrong — which is part of a problem, the wrong information — and their opinions directly to people online.”

Concerns about social media news

According to the Pew Research, 77% of the news influencers have no affiliation or background with a news organization. 

Eichmeier again points to Rogan as an example of influencers who don’t have to check facts or maintain traditional journalism standards because they’re not affiliated with or working for a news organization. 

“You know, Joe Rogan, he can deliver his political thoughts and opinions directly to his followers and he doesn’t have the traditional legacy media journalistic practices, right?” Eichmeier said. “Joe Rogan doesn’t have to [check facts], and Joe Rogan has millions of followers.”

For example, in one of Rogan’s podcasts from 2021, he stated that ivermectin, a medication used to treat some parasitic diseases, was a perfect storm against COVID and claimed it was effective, cheap and generic. 

Eichmeier said this is where an influencer and a journalist might differ because a journalist might check with a scientist to see if ivermectin actually does help protect against COVID-19, which it doesn’t. 

“And scientists might be like, ‘Actually, ivermectin doesn’t help or hurt, you know, it doesn’t really do anything for you,’” Eichmeier said. “So when you think about that kind of information, what kind of information people are getting, it’s certainly, how you view politics I would say, most likely going to be influenced by what you consume.” 

Pliam-ganapathy said she is concerned about the amount of misinformation on social media. 

“I feel like there’s a lot of fake news,” Pliam-ganapathy said. “Mainly like a lot of fake news and just like what I think would be like defamation and stuff.” 

After the presidential debate in September, social media became flooded with memes and videos of Trump claiming Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating pets — a statement that is false. 

“They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” Trump said. 

Meanwhile, Harris’ campaign came under fire for posting edited and misleading videos and captions aimed at Trump, such as Trump being confused at his location, his immigration comments and more. 

Eichmeier said voting isn’t solely influenced by social media. She said factors such as the views of family and friends also are important contributors. 

“But at the same time, how else do you learn about candidates, other than what they put on the internet or on television or through the news media?” Eichmeier said.

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