Digital Smarts - There is Bipartisan Consensus on Distrust of Social Media

In these divided times it is easy to blame social media for much of the partisanship and misinformation that is flooding the internet. But a new study from the Pew Research Center suggests that there is overall bipartisan agreement that news that comes from social media sites is suspect. Incredibly, almost two thirds of adults don't trust Facebook as a source of news — and the numbers are mirrored on both sides of the aisle, with 59 percent of Democrats (and independents who lean that way) and 62 percent of Republicans (and independents who lean that way) reporting distrust. The numbers are similarly symmetrical for Twitter (46 percent distrusted by Democratic voters, 51 percent for Republicans) and Instagram (41 and 45 percent, respectively). 

On the whole, a whopping 72 percent of people in the survey said they trusted news information on social media sites either "Not too much" (38 percent) or "Not at all" (34 percent). As for the people who do trust their feeds to be factual: Only 15 percent of people across both sides said they trusted Facebook, 12 percent trusted Twitter, 6 percent trusted Instagram, and a slightly concerning 17 percent trusted what they saw on YouTube.

While is hard to know exactly what these numbers mean and what kind of “news” people are referring to, it is reassuring that many people seem to be aware that everything they read online may not be true. It is definitely a message that parents need to remind their children of constantly. And one positive note, new research from the Reboot Foundation suggests that it is possible to cultivate students’ ability to spot fake news by learning to "read beyond the headline," "check the date" and "check your biases."