Information
Is scrolling believing?
Young people use social media platforms far more than older people. But how much do they trust them?
We conducted a survey among 15–24 and 40+ year-olds across 21 countries to explore how childhood is changing.
Read more about the surveyAnswer the question above to learn more about the changing nature of childhood.
Return to the questionSocial media platforms are by far the most common way young people get their information. That doesn't necessarily mean they trust what they're scrolling.
On average, just 17% of young people say they put "a lot" of trust in information from social media platforms.
That's a lower share than those who trust a lot in traditional national media and international media, doctors and health care workers, and scientists - in every source we asked about!
While young people recognize that not everything they read is true, they generally report higher levels of trust than older people in various sources of information and institutions.
There is just one entity in which young people report significantly lower levels of trust than older people:
Religious institutions
By contrast, young people report significantly higher levels of trust than older people in the following information sources:
Social media platforms
National government
International news media
Scientists
While young people on average express slightly more trust in social media than older people, there's a twist to this story:
Among people who rely on social media for their information, young people are 24% less likely to report a lot of trust in social media platforms compared to older users.
It turns out that most young netizens around the world are discerning consumers of what they read online.