Gen Z relies on influencers and the comment section for news and fact checking: Google Report

Gen Z users often rely on social validation from their peers or the influencers they follow and the comments they read to fact check information.

Gen Z consumes important news primarily from influencers, and when it comes to actual news articles, they just read headlines and then scroll to the comments to see what others have to say, often skipping articles that are too long, a study by Google subsidiary Jigsaw revealed, according to a Business Insider article.

Gen Z internet users rely on influencers more than traditional media outlets to get news. (Unsplash)

Why does Gen Z trust influencers and others' opinions more?

Gen Z users get most new information through their social media feeds, which run on algorithms to filter and provide content they care about, and from sources they trust and keep going back to.

They also doesn’t want to see content that might force them to think too hard or emotionally upset them, often relying on social validation from their peers or the influencers they follow to ascertain the factfulness of the information, according to the report by Jigsaw, which studies online politics and polarization.

What platforms does Gen Z rely on for news?

Gen Z users are also found to be quite loyal to the influencers they follow, with TikTok and its young user base being a platform that they use to get a large amount of information from influencers.

In sharp contrast, other platforms like Facebook, Instagram and X, with the presence of established media outlets aren't favoured as much by Gen Z when it comes to news.

What does Gen Z not like or are skeptical about?

They also don’t trust anything with ads, paywalls, or pop-ups asking for subscriptions or donations. Clickbait content is found to be especially undesirable.

News which are heavy on data and facts usually see Gen Z making a beeline for the comments.

However, Jigsaw didn't poll a large group of Gen Z users about their digital habits, and instead used interviews with a handful of 13 to 24 year olds from a range of demographics, classes, and genders, which the Business Insider article claims to look for qualitative depth rather than quantitative data.