This Flash Eurobarometer provides an overview of European citizens’ attitudes towards social media. It examines attitudes towards key themes, such as: (1) information habits and sources for social and political current affairs; (2) social media usage patterns and preferences for information on current affairs; (3) exposure and response to disinformation and trust in messengers; (4) engagement with influencers and content creators on social media; (5) audience and preferences for institutional accounts and political content on social media; (6) preferred formats and content types for political content on social media; (7) attitudes towards the European Union.
Key findings
Information habits and sources
Two-thirds (66%) of respondents use traditional media to follow content on social and political current affairs daily and about six in ten (59%) respondents use other digital sources. In terms of information sources used for that purpose, about seven in ten (71%) indicate using the TV. For youth aged between 15 and 24, the most used source for this type of content is social media platforms (65%). Whereas over four in ten respondents (42%) answer that TV has become more important for them over the last year, one in five (25%) perceive increased importance of the social media platforms.
Social media use
The survey findings reveal a combination of active and passive consumption of social and political information on social media, with many users both intentionally seeking out content (66%) and unexpectedly encountering it during casual browsing (76%). Respondents engage with social and political content on social media mostly by reading or viewing content on their feed(s) (38%) or liking or reacting to posts (36%).
Exposure and response to disinformation
Two thirds (66%) of respondents think they have been exposed to disinformation and fake news at least sometimes over the past seven days. Although just over six in ten respondents feel confident that they can recognise disinformation when they encounter it (61%), about three in ten are not confident in their ability to recognise disinformation.
Following influencers and content creators
More than one-third of respondents (37%) indicate that they follow influencers or content creators on social media channels. Among youngsters (15 to 24-year-olds) the result increases to 74%. Among respondents following influencers of content creators, four in ten follow reviews (39%) and commentary on social and political current affairs (38%).
Preferred formats for political content on social media
Just over two in ten (22%) respondents indicate that they follow what’s going on in EU politics ‘most of the time’, and more than four in ten (44%) respondents report doing so ‘from time to time’. Among those who indicate using social media and/or platforms for information on social and political current affairs, more than four in ten report a preference for short text-based posts (46%) and for short videos (41%). Also, more than four in ten users report a preference for videos exploring current affairs in depth (47%), interviews with experts (44%) and interviews with everyday people or citizens affected by the issue (42%).