Perception of Information and Disinformation on Social Media. Daily Access and Age of Adolescents and Young People as Predictive Factors

Abstract

Social media currently plays a key role for adolescents and young people in accessing information. The integration of these platforms into their media diet leads them to build their own digital architecture to stay informed and to avoid disinformation. Based on academic literature and a survey (n = 1,800), this study analyses the perceptions of Spanish young people and adolescents (aged 14 to 24) regarding various characteristics of social media in relation to information and disinformation. Our findings reveal that daily access to social media is a good predictor regarding propositions related to information, whereas age is generally a slightly better indicator for those related to disinformation. These results provide deeper insight into the components that influence adolescents and young people, helping to better understand how they shape their own media repertoires.