Due to the increased convenience afforded by digital technology, the reading of news has changed, especially for the younger generation.
According to the 2019 Reuters Digital News Report, an increasing number of young people apprise themselves of news through platform services. These can come in the form of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, or through news aggregation services like Google News and Upday.
These platform services have risen in popularity as news sources due to the increased convenience they bring over accessing news sites. Platforms allow users to read news from different sources consolidated on the same service, saving the effort of reading the latest headlines from multiple news brands.
In the case of social media, young people already spend time on these platforms for entertainment and social interaction – thus, using the social media platform as their primary source of news is natural and expedient.
Such usage holds promising benefits. Due to the increased ease of accessing news content through platforms like social media and aggregators, it is easier than ever before to keep abreast of the news. In a 2018 study by the National Library Board, Singaporean residents are reading news more regularly today than compared to two years prior.
The costs of convenience
However, use of platform services has its downsides, in terms of possible detrimental effects on users’ understanding and comprehension of news.
Platform services are often optimised for use on smartphones. As such, their interface often adopts an infinite scroll design, where content is loaded continuously as the user scrolls down the page. This endless stream of information incentivises constant scrolling, which can change the reading habits of users. A 2018 study by the United Kingdom’s Office of Communications (OFCOM) found that users served with content through such interfaces develop passive information consumption patterns that favour scrolling and skimming headlines rather than pro-active searching and comparison.
Many study participants who used social media for news were unable to recall the primary sources of news they had read and were often unable to distinguish news from advertisements or sponsored content.
In addition, the integration of news-reading habits into social media usage further reinforces a lack of proactive news finding, as users of these platforms are under the impression that they can stay informed about the important news of the day without actively following the news, but by merely reading what is shared by their peers on social media networks.
Additionally, the ease of access granted by platform applications allow for what digital journalism academics call “news snacking”: readers check their platforms frequently to see what is new, but only briefly. This leads to a less comprehensive understanding of what is read, hurting news comprehension.
These effects add up to create an environment where the modern news consumer understands and remembers less of the news they read. This was reflected in the aforementioned OFCOM study, where many study participants had poor recall of key details and facts in news articles they had read just a few days prior.
The perils of passive news consumption
Younger people are more susceptible to forming these bad news-reading patterns, due to the integration of smartphone technology and online social networks in their daily lives. The thought that the future generations understand less of the world due to poor news-gathering habits is, naturally, a cause for concern.
This trend is especially concerning given the increased prevalence of fake news – false information disguised as news with the intent of misinforming, either for commercial or political gain. If younger people are less vigilant in their verification of information due to passive news-reading habits, they are more likely to fall for fake news.
Furthermore, the platform services can be the target of biased information campaigns. Many platforms like Facebook and Google News utilise algorithms to curate the content a user sees, shaped by the users’ past choices and tastes. The Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018 showed the world the opportunity for algorithmic manipulation – user data from Facebook was harvested by the company to target political advertisements at users with the intention of influencing their vote in the 2016 USA presidential elections.
Promoting active engagement with the news
How can this worrying trend be corrected? Active reading and news engagement must be promoted among youths. Naturally, this starts from education. The integration of news literacy programs into curriculums, like those provided by primary and secondary schools in Finland, empowers youths with the skills to think critically about news and form their own judgments.
Technology can also be helpful. News providers can innovate the design of their mobile interfaces to promote deeper understanding and more critical engagement. BBC’s app design team developed many prototypes in 2018 to meet these aims, with some prototypes having embedded textboxes and videos providing additional context for a news story, or providing competing viewpoints on a contentious issue to promote critical engagement from the reader.
But ultimately, tools can only bring us so far – it is up to youths themselves to develop the habit of reading deeply and thinking critically. While technology gives us the benefit of convenience, this convenience comes with risks – in an era of misinformation, it is hoped that youths themselves can muster the critical thinking required to tell truths and untruths apart.
Avery Yew is a Masters graduate from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, as well as a graduate from the National University of Singapore, majoring in Law. He was an intern at IPS from March to May 2020.
Top photo from iStock.