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Even though a majority of consumers are turning to social media as their preferred source of breaking news, issues surrounding trust and the quality of social media content remain a concern for many of them.
New research from Sprout Social, a social media management and analytics software company, shows social media as the top breaking news source overall, with 49 percent of respondents citing it as a top-three source, as opposed to 45 percent for TV and 32 percent for digital news apps.
Social media’s dominance, perhaps not surprisingly, is not equal across all age groups. Two-thirds of Gen Z survey respondents cited it as one of their top three sources. That number drops to 61 percent for Millennials, 44 percent for Gen X and just 24 percent for Boomers.
The generational numbers go in the opposite direction for TV, with 67 percent of Boomers listing it as a top go-to platform for breaking news and only 27 percent of Gen Z doing so.
Despite social media’s popularity, the problems of trustworthiness and “AI slop” may be causing some news consumers to have second thoughts. More than half (56 percent) of respondents reported that they are seeing “AI slop” often or very often on their social feeds. Perhaps as a result of that, 66 percent said they are more selective about what they engage with on social than they were a year ago
Out of all the generations surveyed, Gen Z was the most likely to pull the plug on content that they saw as AI slop. Half of them (50 percent) said they had muted or blocked a brand or creator because their content felt like AI slop, as opposed to 44 percent for Millennials, 38 percent of Gen X and 29 percent of Boomers.
When it comes to AI’s effects on trust, almost nine out of ten (88 percent) survey respondents either strongly or somewhat agreed that “the rise of video-generation AI tools has resulted in me having less trust in the news I see on social media.”
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The overall level of trust has undergone a less severe transformation. With 16 percent of respondents saying their trust in social media had risen over the past 12 months, and 35 percent saying it had dropped, that leaves about half (49 percent) who have not really seen a change.
When Sprout Social asked respondents about what they wish brands would stop doing, posting AI-generated content without labels (28 percent) came out at the top of the list. Using engagement-bait tactics (23 percent), engaging in political discussions (14 percent) and sending automated DMs immediately after following (13 percent) were also musts to avoid for many.
“The use of AI-generated content adds a new layer of complexity, but it’s a challenge brands, creators and news organizations can overcome,” said Sprout Social CMO Scott Morris.
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