NAVIGATING NEWS CREDIBILITY AND MISINFORMATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA: A STUDY OF YOUNG ADULTS' INFORMATION VERIFICATION BEHAVIORS

Abstract

The use of social media as a main news source among young adults is causing concern regarding the ability of individuals to handle misinformation in the environment that is controlled by algorithms. The current qualitative research is aimed at investigating the information verification behaviour of young adults (18-26) using semi-structured interviews and think-aloud protocols, the strategy that they use, the cues that they place trust in, and the difficulties encountered in determining the credibility of the news. The thematic analysis enabled identification of four key findings guided by the Uses and Gratifications Theory and Media Dependency Theory. First, there was a rise of a so-called vigilance paradox whereby the participants indicated that they were very confident of identifying fake news but showed a generalized cynicism that was further applied to honest journalism, which compromised the ability to differentiate sources. Secondly, verification was a social practice in itself, the participants needed to use peer networks, comment sections, and trusted influencers as distributed verification systems. Third, platform interactions, such as fact-check labels, community notes and algorithmic recommendations, were defined by ambivalence and explanatory community notes were appreciated, whereas binary labels were viewed with skepticism or curiosity-driven resentment. Fourth, personal verification toolkits were largely shallow/account checks, comment scanners, and cross-referencing with big platforms and focused on efficiency over depth in a manner that corresponds to the platform logics of quick consumption. The results show that young adults are not naive consumers but they are active agents that move in structurally complex information environments that are constructed by platform architectures, algorithm logics, and social relations. The verification practices used are decent adaptations to an environment that is meant to be engaged but not accurate. That highlights the importance of multi-level interventions: media literacy education that would touch on algorithm awareness and source triangulation, journalism transparency in practices that show that they are trustworthy, platform design changes that would help in certifying credibility, and regulatory measures that would promote accuracy over engagement. To combat the misinformation crisis, the individual capabilities and the information environments in which those capabilities are undertaken need to be converted.