Instagram top news source among UK teens: study

Instagram is now the most popular news source among UK teenagers, followed by TikTok and YouTube, according to a report published by media watchdog Ofcom on Thursday.

Nearly three in 10 teenagers used Instagram as their news source in 2022, with TikTok and YouTube both on 28 percent.

Only a quarter of teens receive their news from BBC One and BBC Two, traditionally the most popular sources among teens, down from 45 percent five years ago, according to online polling.

BBC One is still the most-used news source among all online adults but those numbers have also fallen by six percent.

TikTok has seen the biggest rise in news users, with an estimated 3.9 million UK adults now turning to the app — around the same number that use the Sky News website and app.

Half of TikTok’s news users are aged between 16 to 24.

Despite the falling numbers, television news remains the most trusted news source for 71 percent of UK adults, with news on social media only trusted by 35 percent.

The use of print and online newspapers also fell to 38 percent from 51 percent in 2018.

“This is being driven by the substantial decrease of print newspaper reach in recent years, with the trend seen pre-pandemic appearing to accelerate, likely exacerbated by the pandemic,” said Ofcom.

The proportion of teenagers using Facebook for news has also decreased to 22 percent from 34 percent in 2018.