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TikTok at the center of the news diet? A qualitative study of young people’s engagement with social media as a source of news and information

Hanne Peeters (UGent) and Kristin Van Damme (UGent)
(2025) Etmaal van de Communicatiewetenschap 2025, Abstracts.
Author
Organization
Abstract
The gap between news media and younger audiences seems to be widening, as evidenced by the growing disinterest in news among young people (Picone et al., 2024). In response, news organizations are increasingly adapting their content to social media platforms. While social media has become one of the main news sources for this demographic (Vanwynsberghe et al., 2024), it remains unclear how they engage with news and information on these platforms, and how they evaluate the role of platforms as main news sources. To explore this, we conducted interviews among young Flemish social media users (aged 16 to 23) with different levels of news interest. Preliminary results show that while young audiences find it valuable to encounter news on social media, they mainly associate the platforms with informal and inspirational information, and do not desire social media to take on a more serious or important role in this regard.

Citation

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MLA
Peeters, Hanne, and Kristin Van Damme. “TikTok at the Center of the News Diet? A Qualitative Study of Young People’s Engagement with Social Media as a Source of News and Information.” Etmaal van de Communicatiewetenschap 2025, Abstracts, 2025.
APA
Peeters, H., & Van Damme, K. (2025). TikTok at the center of the news diet? A qualitative study of young people’s engagement with social media as a source of news and information. Etmaal van de Communicatiewetenschap 2025, Abstracts. Presented at the Etmaal van de Communicatiewetenschap 2025 : Media and Well-being, Brugge, België.
Chicago author-date
Peeters, Hanne, and Kristin Van Damme. 2025. “TikTok at the Center of the News Diet? A Qualitative Study of Young People’s Engagement with Social Media as a Source of News and Information.” In Etmaal van de Communicatiewetenschap 2025, Abstracts.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Peeters, Hanne, and Kristin Van Damme. 2025. “TikTok at the Center of the News Diet? A Qualitative Study of Young People’s Engagement with Social Media as a Source of News and Information.” In Etmaal van de Communicatiewetenschap 2025, Abstracts.
Vancouver
1.
Peeters H, Van Damme K. TikTok at the center of the news diet? A qualitative study of young people’s engagement with social media as a source of news and information. In: Etmaal van de Communicatiewetenschap 2025, Abstracts. 2025.
IEEE
[1]
H. Peeters and K. Van Damme, “TikTok at the center of the news diet? A qualitative study of young people’s engagement with social media as a source of news and information,” in Etmaal van de Communicatiewetenschap 2025, Abstracts, Brugge, België, 2025.
@inproceedings{01JNZYB1EXP3S6C59YGWTAAY7N,
  abstract     = {{The gap between news media and younger audiences seems to be widening, as evidenced
by the growing disinterest in news among young people (Picone et al., 2024). In response, news
organizations are increasingly adapting their content to social media platforms. While social
media has become one of the main news sources for this demographic (Vanwynsberghe et al.,
2024), it remains unclear how they engage with news and information on these platforms, and
how they evaluate the role of platforms as main news sources. To explore this, we conducted
interviews among young Flemish social media users (aged 16 to 23) with different levels of news
interest. Preliminary results show that while young audiences find it valuable to encounter news on social media, they mainly associate the platforms with informal and inspirational information,
and do not desire social media to take on a more serious or important role in this regard.}},
  author       = {{Peeters, Hanne and Van Damme, Kristin}},
  booktitle    = {{Etmaal van de Communicatiewetenschap 2025, Abstracts}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  location     = {{Brugge, België}},
  title        = {{TikTok at the center of the news diet? A qualitative study of young people’s engagement with social media as a source of news and information}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}