08 May These Teens Mostly Get News From Social Media but Don’t Fully Trust It

(Photo by Joeyy Lee on Unsplash)

Commentary, Various Authors 

Editor’s Note: We asked Kennedy High School students to tell us where and how they consume news and navigate the line between trustworthy and fake news. Their responses have been lightly edited.

To be completely honest, I do not pay attention to the news as often as I should; it’s something that doesn’t interest me. I receive some news on social media, like TikTok and Instagram, but I usually don’t pay attention to it (unless I actually heard it from TV news) because it is very easy to spread fake news. Another way I receive my news, which is the majority of the time, would be during one of my classes, economics, because my teacher always puts the news as background noise and whenever I’m in the living room with my dad and watch whatever he’s watching.

The most interesting way I receive my news information would be in class. I know to trust it because the news is coming from actual reporters, and it’s not on some biased news channel like Fox News. I find it interesting because most of the time I am so focused on my work and don’t realize my surroundings until I hear something that catches me off guard, which makes me tune in.

— Mariana Calvario, 17

I get my news from friends or family. But I tend to not bother with the news in general. I don’t have or use social media, so I mostly rely on others to fill me in. It’s hard to decide if it is trustworthy as I wasn’t the one who read or looked at the news, and I’m purely going off of what someone had said. If I really wanted to find out something, I would look around on Google to find info.

— Geovanni Dominguez, 17

I usually get my local news from NBC Bay Area news, ABC News, or from social media apps like TikTok and Instagram. They’re all OK since I only look at certain events when it’s important to me. Most of my interests are things like updates about South Korea and disasters worldwide. I decide to trust by viewing their political points if one is more Republican, then no. Instead, I prefer to go with Democratic news outlets and trusted websites.

— Janelle Galvez, 14

I get most of my news/Information from social media, but I don’t trust them immediately until there are reliable sources like Wikipedia to confirm the rumor. I also get information from personal sources like teachers and friends, and I trust them because I don’t trust just anyone.

— Jakcely Cabrera, 17

I get my news from economics class because Mr. Lock is always playing ABC News. This source meets my needs and interests very well because it informs me of what is going on around the world and also around my area. I decide what to trust by what they have to say about anything happening in the country or any informative news, like any changes happening. I trust ABC News because they keep it real.

— Junior Salas, 17

I would say I get most of my news from TikTok or from other people that get it from other platforms. TikTok doesn’t meet my needs for information when it comes to specific topics. It can have false information or it can go off on rumors. Especially when it comes to news happening in our government or other important topics. Most of the information I get is more about crafts and I do find it very useful because there are a lot of different people with different methods.

— Paloma Garcia, 15

I get news from social media apps like TikTok and Instagram. Social media is fast and shows different views, while websites tell more detailed news. Social media allows me to engage with news in real time and see different perspectives. When it comes to decide what news is true, I check if the source is reliable, like a well-known news source, and then I compare the information from multiple places.

— Anisa Sharif, 15

I get mine off apps likes Instagram. But I really don’t get news articles on my page; if I do, I usually ignore them. Today, I did get one that was interesting to me though. Traditional news to me is very boring and uninteresting. I don’t really trust them since some news outlets are more biased then others. News outlets can also lie about the character of people.

— Eduardo Sanchez, 14

To be honest, I’m not the type of person to watch TV, so I don’t watch the news. However, as a young teenager, I’m on social media a lot, so that’s mostly where I get my news. For example, I can be scrolling through TikTok, and a video talking about something that’s happening somewhere in the world will pop up. I mostly take interest in anything happening around my area or relating to teens. Most of the time, I will take that information but also do my own research because you never know if they are telling the truth.

— Rosmery Hernandez, 15

Sometimes, I get it off the news, but I don’t really be on the news like that, or I don’t really be on my TV. So I sometimes get it off TikTok, but sometimes TikTok people just be saying lies.

— Sophia Ochoa, 15

I mostly get my news from social media, mostly Instagram and TikTok. On Instagram, I follow accounts that give me sports updates, keeping me informed about games and scores. On TikTok, I come across a wide range of content, from politician news/updates to daily life events. While these platforms give me a lot of information, I know not to fully trust everything I see. So I make sure to research topics using multiple news websites to get a better understanding and trustworthy information. This way, I can verify what I’ve seen and make sure I’m getting trustworthy news.

— Anthony Escobar, 18

The way I get news from is from platforms like Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, etc. I do not fully trust TikTok or Instagram when it comes to important news. There is always another story behind it, and it gets confusing. As a young adult, I know news is very important to get information on what’s happening around the world, and sometimes, we may not get good details when it comes to events or situations surrounding us. I am pretty sure everyone has their interest when it comes to their social status. That may include education, health coverage, crime stories, politics etc. That can also give us the power of dynamics in many ways.

— Ruby Alcaraz, 18