Social media is now most popular news source among teens

Social media platforms have become a popular news source among teens

Teenagers in the UK are turning away from traditional news on TV and getting more of their news from social media, according to new research from Ofcom.

Ofcom, which is regulates TV, radio and video in the UK, says the number of people consuming news content on TikTok has increased from 800,000 in 2020 to 3.9 million in 2022.

It also found that, for the first time, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube were the most popular news sources among 12 to 15-year-olds.

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According to the figures, Instagram was the most popular news source with young people and was used by 29% of teenagers - just ahead of TikTok and YouTube, both of which were used by 28%.

BBC One and BBC Two, which were previously the most popular news sources among this age group, has been knocked down to fifth place.

Just under a quarter (24%) of those asked said they used these channels to find news last year, compared with almost half (45%) five years ago.

Lots of young people are turning to TikTok for news, but it isn't the most trusted source

However, the level of trust young people have in social media news sources differs across the platforms.

Half of YouTube and Twitter users think they provide trustworthy news stories, but despite its popularity, fewer than a third of teenagers (30%) trust TikTok's news content.

"Teenagers today are increasingly unlikely to pick up a newspaper or tune into TV News, instead preferring to keep up-to-date by scrolling through their social feeds," said Ofcom's group director for strategy and research, Yih-Choung Teh,

"And while youngsters find news on social media to be less reliable, they rate these services more highly for serving up a range of opinions on the day's topical stories."

The use of newspapers among teenagers has also declined over the last five years, falling from19% to 13%.

What else did the research show?

The number of adults watching the news on TV has fallen over the last five years, but it is still the most trusted source among this group

Ofcom said its figures also show BBC One remains the most used news source among adults, but several major news channels are reaching fewer people in 2022.

Fewer people are watching BBC One, BBC Two, the BBC News channel, ITV and Sky News compared to pre-pandemic levels, which Ofcom said is part of a longer-term drop in the number of people watching news on TV.

However, TV news remains the most trusted news source among UK adults, with social media considered the least reliable.