Finding a trusted source is not always easy.

Social media is littered with red herrings, and it is no surprise that 8 in 10 young men are concerned about misinformation in the content they consume. Still, our data shows that young men trust more easily online. 71% trust social media as a reliable source of news, compared to just half of young women.

Online media sources
Trust amongst 16-34 yr olds

There is also a significant discrepancy between genders regarding other online media sources – with young men far more likely to place trust in YouTube and podcasts than young women.

In this context, young women benefit from a cautious approach to trusting what they see online, but they are also being left behind. Despite nearly half of all young people agreeing that they are ‘addicted’ to social media, young women are more than twice as likely to want to spend less time on it than their male peers.

Young women want to spend less time on social media than young men

There is a real danger here of a credibility crisis in a media system perceived to privilege masculine-coded modes of communication.

In an age where platforms reward content that is visible, immediate and laced with confidence, young men’s needs are better met than young women’s. Trust and guidance have always been as much about tone as content, and there is a real lure in certainty for young men, no matter the truth.

Authority, it seems, has shifted from process to performance: certainty circulates faster than care, and assertion is too easily mistaken for truth.

Uncover more insights on this topic.

Watch Richie Jones unpack the findings with JOE Media below, or find the full data and read the results in more depth.

MODERN
MASCULINITIES