Generation Z, known as “digital natives,” are constantly being influenced by their peers, family, social life, etc. Most notably, teens are influenced by social media, being misinformed with fake news and false information. Gen Z, the most digitally advanced generation, has spent their whole lives surrounded by technology, specifically in the advancements in smartphones and televisions, which can be accessed anywhere at any time. This is when social media comes into play, on almost every teens phone nowadays. It takes many forms, through video apps, chatting apps, news apps, etc.
On the internet, there is so much false information and lies and teens are believing it. They’re easily influenced and when they start developing a biased opinion to the information they’ve taken in, they’ll become more “brainwashed” by the media they consume. I am a teen as well, and yet I feel to be the only person realizing what’s going on in social media. Education Week’s article on “Conspiracy Theories” states “The findings are just the latest evidence that teenagers—like adults—struggle to recognize accurate, unbiased information in a chaotic digital media landscape.”
Particularly in this past election, I’ve seen countless false information from both the left and right sides of the race. For example, from the left side, misinformation has been used to sway the vote of the people. “Project 2025” being one of them, was just a way to spread fear into people to vote left. On the right side, claims like the 2020 election being rigged were also false to help get people to make their decision in the election. An article from RawStory on fake news says, “In Finland, kids in nursery school are learning to discern between fake news and real news.”
Although, this wasn’t supposed to be targeted upon teens. I’ve seen many videos from both sides of teenagers just spewing false and fake information that they got from their very much credible TikTok slideshow they got on their FYP. It’s because most teens “struggle to distinguish between advertisements and opinion” -Education Weekly).
Teens aren’t supposed to be the political weapon of the elections, or politics in general, since none of us can even vote yet. Just leave all of the debating and problems to the real adults. It’s all just a whole mess when it comes to politics, especially with teens.
Though teens are some of the “victims” to this problem, I’ve seen similar situations from older generations. On Facebook, I’ve seen countless posts of “AI-generated” images and content, with some being animals dancing. The images themselves are harmless, but it’s the older people believing that the things they’re seeing are real and not fake which is worrying. “A generation ago, such untruths were spread slowly in living rooms or by people handing out fliers on the street,” says the author from an Education Weekly article. Nowadays, older people can find it on their phones.
When it comes to things that us teens and most social media users can find digitally, half of the time you can discern the difference between what’s real and what’s not. I just think my generation takes everything said to them too literally, to the point that they can’t tell what’s real or not. I think us as a generation need to come to an understanding that lots of media we see these days is false and isn’t credible. The question is, how can we reverse this ‘mindless’ misinformation found in the media? Or rather, how could we help teens understand what’s real and not?
Social Media and the Teen Mind: The Detrimental Influence of Fake News on Youth
By Caidyn Bender ‘26
Generation Z, known as “digital natives,” are constantly being influenced by their peers, family, social life, etc. Most notably, teens are influenced by social media, being misinformed with fake news and false information. Gen Z, the most digitally advanced generation, has spent their whole lives surrounded by technology, specifically in the advancements in smartphones and televisions, which can be accessed anywhere at any time. This is when social media comes into play, on almost every teens phone nowadays. It takes many forms, through video apps, chatting apps, news apps, etc.
On the internet, there is so much false information and lies and teens are believing it. They’re easily influenced and when they start developing a biased opinion to the information they’ve taken in, they’ll become more “brainwashed” by the media they consume. I am a teen as well, and yet I feel to be the only person realizing what’s going on in social media. Education Week’s article on “Conspiracy Theories” states “The findings are just the latest evidence that teenagers—like adults—struggle to recognize accurate, unbiased information in a chaotic digital media landscape.”
Particularly in this past election, I’ve seen countless false information from both the left and right sides of the race. For example, from the left side, misinformation has been used to sway the vote of the people. “Project 2025” being one of them, was just a way to spread fear into people to vote left. On the right side, claims like the 2020 election being rigged were also false to help get people to make their decision in the election. An article from RawStory on fake news says, “In Finland, kids in nursery school are learning to discern between fake news and real news.”
Although, this wasn’t supposed to be targeted upon teens. I’ve seen many videos from both sides of teenagers just spewing false and fake information that they got from their very much credible TikTok slideshow they got on their FYP. It’s because most teens “struggle to distinguish between advertisements and opinion” -Education Weekly).
Teens aren’t supposed to be the political weapon of the elections, or politics in general, since none of us can even vote yet. Just leave all of the debating and problems to the real adults. It’s all just a whole mess when it comes to politics, especially with teens.
Though teens are some of the “victims” to this problem, I’ve seen similar situations from older generations. On Facebook, I’ve seen countless posts of “AI-generated” images and content, with some being animals dancing. The images themselves are harmless, but it’s the older people believing that the things they’re seeing are real and not fake which is worrying. “A generation ago, such untruths were spread slowly in living rooms or by people handing out fliers on the street,” says the author from an Education Weekly article. Nowadays, older people can find it on their phones.
When it comes to things that us teens and most social media users can find digitally, half of the time you can discern the difference between what’s real and what’s not. I just think my generation takes everything said to them too literally, to the point that they can’t tell what’s real or not. I think us as a generation need to come to an understanding that lots of media we see these days is false and isn’t credible. The question is, how can we reverse this ‘mindless’ misinformation found in the media? Or rather, how could we help teens understand what’s real and not?
Sources
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2024/09/26/the-brainwashing-of-democrat-kids-is-frightening-n3795038
https://www.rawstory.com/joy-behar-fox-news-fake/
https://www.edweek.org/technology/most-teens-believe-conspiracy-theories-see-news-as-biased-what-can-schools-do/2024/10