By: David Rosa Da Costa

Here’s the big question: where do the Mt. Hebron students get their news?

News is essential to the world, allowing people to get information and form opinions. However, where you get your information is critical to the validity of the subject, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to determine whether news is reputable and reliable.

Social media has become a hotbed for misinformation and is a popular place for young adults to retrieve their news.

“I would say I get most of my news from social media,” said Amit Thakar, a Mt. Hebron senior.

Forty-two percent of people aged 18-29 get their news from Instagram, and forty-four percent of people aged 18-29 get their news from TikTok (Pew Research Center). As the data shows, people are more commonly getting their news from social media, which affects the younger population more.

“I do. I think as the new generation continues, I think fewer and fewer people are watching the news on TV because the news on TV only shows the bad news, and you don’t really get to find any of the good news, and social media is very biased as well,” stated Thakar.

With decreased traditional news as a primary source of information and increased social media news, it is now easier than ever to make false news without people fact-checking. Websites like Instagram and Twitter are trying to respond to this problem. Still, it continues to be a severe problem that can lead to people being unable to differentiate between true and false.

Misinformation can also happen with echo chambers, as you can tailor your feed to only things that agree with you and do not challenge your worldview, preventing people from having their voices heard and debated.

While cries for this to be fixed may fall on deaf ears, it is essential to see that the truth is becoming a rare commodity now more than ever. Seeing news that may upset you, reading it, finding different opinions and then formulating an argument may be some of the most valuable skills that help the truth come to light.