The image you uploaded appears to display information about the top news sources among 12-15-year-olds in the UK, focusing on the role of social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok.
Faglig kvalitetssikret av lærere og toppstudenter · Følger læreplanen (LK20) · Sist oppdatert 2026-10-02
Read the material on young people's use of social media below.
Write a text where you reflect on the role of social media as a news provider for young people in the English-speaking world. Use examples from the material below in your answer. You may add other material you find relevant.
Text A
Three phone screens displaying the top 10 news sources among 12-15-year-olds: Instagram, Tiktok and Youtube are the most used sources, while WhatsApp and Twitter are less popular.
Teenagers in the UK are turning away from traditional news channels and are instead looking to Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to keep up to date, Ofcom* has found.
Ofcom’s News consumption in the UK 2021/22 report shows that, for the first time, Instagram is the most popular news source among teenagers used by nearly three in ten in 2022 (29%). TikTok and YouTube follow closely behind, used by 28% of youngsters to follow news.
BBC One and BBC Two – historically the most popular news sources among teens – have been knocked off top spot down to fifth place. Around a quarter of teens (24%) use these channels for news in 2022, compared to nearly half (45%) just five years ago.
Among teens, half of YouTube and Twitter users think they provide trustworthy news stories (51% and 52% respectively). Despite its popularity for news, fewer than a third of youngsters (30%) trust TikTok’s news content.
Text B
Social media is the most commonly used news source among U.S. respondents that consume the news daily, according to a poll by Morning Consult. This was followed by network news (26 percent), cable news networks (21 percent) and radio (20 percent).
[...] According to Morning Consult’s data, older adults were more likely to opt for traditional media such as cable news networks (32 percent for 65+, 24 percent for 45-64-year-olds, 18 percent for 35-44-year-olds, 12 percent for 18-34-year-olds) and newspapers (21 percent of 65+, versus 9-10 percent in the other age groups), while younger audiences were most drawn to social media platforms (45 percent for 18-34-year-olds, 44 percent 35-44-year-olds, 33 percent 45-64-year-olds, 24 percent 65+).
Text A: Ofcom (2022). Instagram, TikTok and YouTube teenagers’ top three news sources. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/news-centre/2022/instagram,-tiktok-and-youtube-teenagers-top-three-news-sources
Text B: Fleck, A. (2023, 16 February). Americans Turn To Social Media For News, Despite Lower Trust. Statista. https://www.statista.com/chart/29327/share-of-people-that-use--and-trust-different-news-sources/
The image you uploaded appears to display information about the top news sources among 12-15-year-olds in the UK, focusing on the role of social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube in delivering news to young people. This connects directly to the material provided in Text A about the growing preference for social media over traditional news outlets.
Here's an analysis of how the image ties into the broader discussion on social media as a news provider for young people:
The Role of Social Media in Delivering News
The chart in the image reinforces the findings presented in Text A, where Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube are shown to be the top three sources for news among teenagers. This data reveals a significant shift away from traditional media outlets, such as BBC One and BBC Two, which were once dominant in reaching the youth audience. According to the chart, Instagram (29%), TikTok (28%), and YouTube (28%) are now the most relied-upon sources for news by 12-15-year-olds, indicating that social media is increasingly central to their news consumption habits.
The image further highlights the fact that traditional news sources have seen a decrease in usage, with BBC One and BBC Two now being used by only 24% of teenagers. This aligns with the observation in Text B about younger generations (18-34 years old) gravitating toward social media for news, with 45% of young adults in the U.S. relying on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Trustworthiness of News on Social Media
The chart also touches on the question of trustworthiness, as TikTok's news content is viewed as less reliable, with only 30% of young people trusting it. This reflects the findings in both Text A and Text B, where younger audiences report lower levels of trust in social media news compared to traditional media. However, platforms like YouTube and Twitter maintain relatively higher trust levels, with 51% and 52% of users respectively finding them trustworthy. This reveals a paradox in social media news consumption: while young people prefer these platforms for their immediacy and accessibility, they are aware of the potential for misinformation and are cautious about the reliability of the content.
Social Media as a Double-Edged Sword
In light of this, social media serves as both an advantageous and problematic news source. On the one hand, it allows young people to access diverse and up-to-date information quickly, but on the other, it raises concerns about the spread of disinformation and the accuracy of the content they consume. The 30% trust in TikTok and the discrepancy between Instagram/TikTok/YouTube’s popularity and the trust placed in them underscores the ongoing tension between accessibility and accuracy.
Conclusion
The image reinforces the notion that social media is rapidly becoming the primary news provider for younger generations, especially in the UK, where traditional news outlets are losing influence. It highlights the importance of understanding how young people engage with news, acknowledging the advantages of social media in terms of accessibility and engagement while also pointing out the risks related to misinformation and the reliability of these platforms.
This trend towards social media-based news consumption challenges traditional news providers to adapt and find ways to maintain their relevance and trustworthiness in the digital age.