Tell me how old you are and I'll tell you which social media platform you use: different generations use different platforms!

Social media. These are platforms on which people communicate with each other on digital channels. They network, they write to each other. They exchange content. But you can also argue. Of course, in my opinion, arguments are also part of social media, as long as they are constructive. And social media is diverse. Easily accessible and we all become authors. And every generation has its own preferences.

I would like to point out the latter in particular to you, because this point reveals an important problem. Because the problem is: We can't just focus on young people when we talk about education about false reports.

This is often the claim that we have to teach young people in their shoes not to fall for false reports. At the same time, it is also said that Facebook must take action against false reports.

The problem, however, is that young people are not primarily on Facebook ! The generation between 35 and 55 years old is primarily on Facebook! What a surprise. But let's start from the beginning.

The generations and their preferences

Every year Saferinternet publishes the “ Youth Internet Monitor ”. This clearly shows which social media platforms are preferred by young people. In recent years it has become clear that of course WhatsApp and YouTube, but also Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, are the important platforms for young people. Facebook and Twitter play no role.

The Futurebiz website also recently an evaluation . This is titled “Social Media Usage: Gen Z vs. Millennials (Gen Y)”. The evaluation confirms what we have always known: especially when it comes to Facebook, the younger generations differ from older ones. The Futurebiz analysis clearly shows that Generation Y (those born between 1980 and 1994) still really enjoy using Facebook. It is likely to be even stronger among Generation X (those born between 1965 and 1980). TikTok, on the other hand, is less popular with Generation Y.

What this means for us as fact checkers

Not only for us as fact-checkers, but as a society, this should show that we have to work with different formats in different generations when it comes to the topic of education. Sure, we can cram young people into a school class and inspire them with a lesson or a project day. These people also have no chance of escaping; they have to attend due to compulsory schooling.

For people outside of compulsory schooling, especially in the older generations, it becomes more difficult. We often can't easily get them out of their comfort zone, let alone into a classroom. This is also completely the wrong way. To do this, we need to develop concepts that are attractive to the older generation.

Entertainment formats, even television formats. Because we know that older generations in particular use classic TV more than younger generations ( compare ). The approach here lies in education; this is where we must start to develop so-called “awareness” against false reports.

That might also be of interest

Police protection for Gil Ofarim. After Gil Ofarim became a victim of discrimination, he turned to the public - but some of the reactions were unimaginably cruel. Continue reading …


If you enjoyed this post and value the importance of well-founded information, become part of the exclusive Mimikama Club! Support our work and help us promote awareness and combat misinformation. As a club member you receive:

📬 Special Weekly Newsletter: Get exclusive content straight to your inbox.
🎥 Exclusive video* “Fact Checker Basic Course”: Learn from Andre Wolf how to recognize and combat misinformation.
📅 Early access to in-depth articles and fact checks: always be one step ahead.
📄 Bonus articles, just for you: Discover content you won't find anywhere else.
📝 Participation in webinars and workshops : Join us live or watch the recordings.
✔️ Quality exchange: Discuss safely in our comment function without trolls and bots.

Join us and become part of a community that stands for truth and clarity. Together we can make the world a little better!

* In this special course, Andre Wolf will teach you how to recognize and effectively combat misinformation. After completing the video, you have the opportunity to join our research team and actively participate in the education - an opportunity that is exclusively reserved for our club members!


Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )