62 OVER THE TOP Trust in Media
TRUST IN SOCIAL NETWORKS (% OF POPULATION, 2018)
time saying they didn’t trust it. And 44% of Swedes got news from social media, despite 82% saying they didn’t trust it. This trend generally held true for most of the countries surveyed – that the percentage of the population accessing news on social media was noticeably higher than the percentage of people who trusted it. The Pew report also said that younger Europeans – unsurprisingly – were much more likely to get their news through social media. Of Danes aged 18-29, 75% said they get news from social media once or more daily, and 68% of Swedish 18-29 year olds said the same. What’s remarkable in these numbers is that Nordic countries – who register the highest mistrust of the internet and social media when it comes to news – are also one of the biggest consumers of news on those platforms. These countries consistently register high levels of trust in their national and traditional media. Does having a stable democracy and a high level of trust in institutions allow people greater confidence in being able to compare multiple sources of information, even across platforms they think might be untrustworthy? Or is the Nordic enthusiasm for social media news no more than a precursor to a collapse of factuality in those countries? Are they just late bloomers in the transition to a post-truth cacophony? SOCIAL HOPES/SOCIAL FEARS It’s well understood that social platforms are designed to be as addictive as possible. We are drawn to them in a way that traditional outlets can’t compete with. In a way, it’s amazing how well traditional media outlets are still doing, given the competition. But the connectedness, instant access and potential for amplifying marginalised voices that social media can provide – the potential for good in social media – is still a major lure, particularly in the developing world. In a recent Pew Research poll of 11 emerging economies, (pewinternet. org/2019/05/13/publics-in-emerging- economies-worry-social-media-sow- division-even-as-they-offer-new-chances- for-political-engagement), a majority in every country polled said access to mobile phones, the internet and social media have made people both better informed about current events and easier to manipulate with false information and rumours. The most striking number was in Jordan, with 93% polled saying connected technology made them better informed, and 92% saying it made them more easy to
40
6
54
37
12
51
36
32
32
33 33
5
62
25
42
32
17
51
30 30
9
61
17
53
29 29 29 29
21
50
27
44
23
48
13 15
58
28
57
26 26
18 18
56 56
25 25
26
49
24
51
24 24
30
46
17
59
22
33
45
21
25
54
20
19
61
20 8
72
19
18
63
16
18
66
15
18
67
15 11
74
15
15
70
14 14
20
66
19
67
11 11
19
70
11
78
9 16
75
7 11
82
50%
100%
0%
TEND TO TRUST
DON’T KNOW TEND NOT TO TRUST
Source: EBU based on Eurobarometer 90. EBUMedia Intelligence Service – Trust inMedia 2019
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