Austrian adolescents’ sources of political information and trust in them: The reconfiguration of information authority on social media

In social media environments, new actors have emerged who curate political information for adolescents and potentially challenge the status of traditional information sources. Drawing from the frameworks of political socialization and curated information flows, this study examines adolescents’ political information behaviors, with a particular focus on social media and their (mis-)trust in various information sources. To that aim, we conducted 47 peer group discussions with N = 232 adolescents between 12 and 19 years using eliciting materials provided via data donations of political content encountered by adolescents. The study took place in 2024 amid multiple national and international elections. The findings reveal a reconfigured information authority where traditional institutions maintain informational trust but must adapt to platform logics and ideological filtering, resulting in a shared – yet asymmetrical – authority between legacy media and emerging actors such as influencers. The study provides novel and nuanced insights into adolescents’ exposure, engagement with, and trust in political information in curated information environments and their embedment in traditional socialization processes. The findings show that adolescents function as intermediaries, who transmit and reinterpret political information from curated information environments to peers and family networks. Prior State of Knowledge: Adolescents increasingly encounter political information through social media, where legacy media, politicians, influencers, peers, and ordinary users compete for attention. Existing research shows that trust varies across sources, but less is known about how adolescents negotiate authority across these actors. Novel Contributions: Using peer group discussions, this study shows that political information authority is being reconfigured. Legacy media remain trusted but share influence with accessible, educational, algorithmically visible actors, while adolescents mediate political information in family and peer networks. Practical Implications: Primarily for educators and practitioners, the findings suggest strengthening media literacy beyond source-checking. Interventions should address heuristic trust, confirmation bias, humor-driven misinformation, and peer discussion, while helping adolescents evaluate the credibility of political sources on social media.