Are Millennials Really More Informed?

By The Mash

Our generation, sometimes referred to as Millennials, has entered unknown

territory when it comes to methods of collecting information. Nowadays, social
media has allowed the spread of information at a rate that has never been seen
before.

The perception that Millennials are less informed is backed by recent research. In
2012, a Pew Research survey reported that members of the Silent and Boomer
generations spent almost twice the amount of time following the news as
Millennials. But polls like this fail to take social media into account as a news
source; earlier this year, the Media Insight Project released research that found 88
percent of Millennials use Facebook as a source for their news.

So does social media keep Millennials as informed as newspapers kept other

generations informed? Well, it does allow people to become more informed if they
choose to use it that way.

“We are a generation that is completely aware of everything going on,” Jones
junior Audrey James said.

An example of this is the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, which owes a lot
of its success to social media. The 2014 events in Ferguson, Mo., caught the
attention of millions even as law enforcement worked to keep journalists at bay—
people could get a glimpse of what was going on through social media.

And when people become aware of a major news event, they also have the
capability to learn more about it.

“I believe it’s a lot easier to find the information because there are a lot more
resources at our fingertips,” Glenbard East journalism teacher Jeffrey Kargol said.
“People can pretty much go online and get informed about something, while other
generations couldn’t do that. So, does this generation have the capability to be
more informed? Absolutely.”

Unlike sitting down and watching the evening news, Twitter and Facebook provide
users with the ability to pick and choose what information they see and investigate
more closely. While this is a powerful tool, it requires responsible use to actually
serve its purpose.
So are teens actually less informed than past generations? Not necessarily,
according to Paul Booth, an associate professor for media and cinema studies at
DePaul University.

“It’s only in the past hundred years or so that children and teenagers would have
had free time to become engaged with the world around them,” Booth explained.
“For many years, people went to school and then went to work, and the idea that
you might have free time to spend on media- or technology-related issues would
be laughable! So, the rise of leisure time goes hand-in-hand with technological
growth.”

Even if older generations aren’t fond of social media, it’s hard to deny that the way
we consume news is changing. Many newspapers are beginning to move their
business online. As the generation who grew up on the internet, teens already have
a head start to understanding the information that can be gained online.