By: Yade Medina
A Post-Election World:
With a post-election world and a new year upon us, a check-in with students on campus seemed more than appropriate.
No matter what party a student may fall into politically, it’s important to know where we get our information from!
With that in mind, a survey was sent out to see where students were reviewing political updates, world news, health updates, and other expanding kinds of information.
Even though there’s more to it than the question of where and why, that’s where we’ll start.
Where do you Find News and Information about the World?
The general consensus among the student body is that they find news on social media. That was an expected and welcome outcome. It is how the current generation can best communicate this sort of information.
A student indicated in their response that they do further research. Aside from social media, they look up articles related to policy or news. They also find different versions of the ones that they have seen on social media.
Different students have said that they don’t think there is another source of information that they can use. It was not something that they were encouraged to do during their high school years. That translated to them not looking for other means of information.
What Kind of News or Worldwide Information Do You Feel Yourself Gravitating Towards?
The search for information is different among the surveyed students, especially regarding where their interests lie. A majority of the students surveyed said their prime focus on news and public information is related to global and international issues.
They credited this specific awareness of information to the election at the end of 2024. A few of them expressed a desire to have been more informed about the development of information during that period.
What social media app do you find the most convenient for information gathering, and why?
TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram were the main three reported apps used for gathering information. Many students have reported that TikTok’s ease comes from their peers. They see reposts or other students making videos, leading them to do more research.
Instagram is one of the more commonly used apps for students, aside from Snapchat. That is indicative in the seemingly even split between students who were surveyed. The reason for Instagram’s popularity as an information gatherer comes from the pages on the app that spread information.
These pages usually have to do with societal issues, political structures, and also individual marginalized groups. This is especially true when creating pages and discussing updates in each of those communities.
Peer activity and activism have been the driving force behind these apps being used so, especially in regards to information gathering.
Apps like SnapChat use titles that are more in line with clickbait to draw viewers in. While the titles work, a good percentage of the information is either old or unreliable.
TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels are also good apps to get digestible pieces of information. This way a student can go back and research the information in question.
On the other hand, YouTube proper is the go-to app for long-form content. This is especially true when breaking down more complicated news stories or political policies. YouTube can help cut out the lengthy process of sifting through articles.
We have discussed convenience, which brings us to the subject of reliability.
How Effective is this App for Vetting Information You’ve Found on Other Apps or Heard in Conversation?
With a 75% score, the apps students chose were deemed to be only decently reliable. A large portion of the students surveyed believe that they have a midpoint in information. The information they find on these apps is in one of two categories.
The information is just enough to get their own research started, or it is already a part of their usual algorithm, making it easier to find throughout their pages.
There is one outlier in this specific situation. A couple of the students who were surveyed say that they did no further research when they found this information. It is important to have resources that we trust to inform us. However, a bit of extra research would certainly help solidify some of those facts.
With resources in mind, we asked the students about the news.
Do You Watch the News? Why or Why Not?
With a 66.7% vs a 33.3% split, the students answered no when it came to watching the news. From the student’s answers, there seem to be rather suitable reasons for those who said no. However, the few who said yes pointed out that it is an occasional watch for them.
The students cited the bias of news stations, channels, and groups on television as the reason for this. They do not feel they can get an unbiased opinion or explanation of worldly information. This has caused them to stay away from the news as a source of any new information.
The students surveyed said that it is particularly true for channels or news stations that specifically cover politics.
The written version of the news stories is easier for them to digest. Once they have read it, they can search for specific information to verify its merit. The students have remarked on how this process lets them reach their own conclusions.
The next question accidentally serves to cut out the middleman of their research.
What Would You Need to Have Better Access to Information?
The surveyed students had relatively straightforward answers to this question. The first group of students said they would need better verification of information rather than actual access. This is entirely correct; most would agree there has been an oversaturation of information. This information is rarely followed with accurate and appropriate sources.
The second group of students were those who wanted to have access to physical information, such as in libraries. With that kind of information, they would be able to have better knowledge of policy or older pieces of history relevant to the news today.
Closing Sources:
I had a few sources of my own give me details on places to locate information, should something happen to social media apps like TikTok. When it comes to websites to use it is best to remember that websites that end in “.gov, .org, and .edu” are likely going to have the most prominent information. Government information should be found directly on government websites. If the information you are looking for is suddenly not present, you might have to find different sources that have sourced information.
Chamber websites usually hold records of the bills that are brought during State legislative sessions.
I also received a nonprofit news organization that does well with news. It is called ProPublica, so check it out if you want more information!
Throughout the semester I will do my best to find more sources that students can have access to. This will hopefully give students more varied places for information!
