45.5 F
Davis

Davis, California

Friday, March 29, 2024

Where do students get their news?

Social media, Twitter main source for news

Whether in class or at home, students spend a lot of time on their phones. Because of this, social media and various news apps are a convenient place to get the news.

Kelly Lee, a fourth-year art studio and sociology double major, likes to get her news from apps such as Naver and Nate, popular search engines used in South Korea. 

“I use these apps because everyone I know uses them and I also like to read the comments,” Lee said, adding that she likes to get her news in her first language. “With these sites, I can also share my thoughts, too, if I wanted to.” 

Similarly, Liliana Valenzuela, a third-year sociology major, likes to read the comments shared at the bottom of news postings on Twitter.

“People retweet and give their opinions [on Twitter] and I like reading different perspectives,” Valenzuela said, adding that although she is subscribed to the Los Angeles Times and follows KTLA5 and ABC7 on Twitter, she doesn’t “read beyond the headlines.”  

April Melendez, a third-year communications and philosophy double major, also gets her news from Twitter and through word of mouth.

“Since we are a very liberal campus, you do hear a lot of different types of opinions,” Melendez said. “You can be just walking around campus and hear about a [current] news issue.”

Despite the ease of access to information, it can be hard for students to discern what is accurate reporting and what is not. 

“I don’t know myself how to differentiate between which news platforms are credible or biased or even right-wing,” Melendez said. Because she engages with more left-leaning users and accounts, most of what she sees on her timeline aligns with her views, making it difficult to know what information is not biased. 

Vanessa Pinal, a third-year sociology major, also gets her news from Twitter but looks further into subjects that pertain to her major. 

“Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of posts of teen trafficking, sex-trafficking and posts where little kids have been killed because of a parent,” Pinal said. “I read a lot of those because they kind of correspond to what I am learning in my sociology classes. Because I am a sociology major, maybe that’s why they interest me more.” 

The news that speaks most to students might be the news that relates to areas of interest and subjects they study or news that directly impacts them — such as events affecting their hometowns. Sabina Kabra, a fourth-year genetics and psychology double major, looks for news that could affect her personal life. 

“I look more into [headlines] when I know it’s something that’s going to affect me or something that I care about,” Kabra said. “On Facebook, I do see a lot of news about Davis or UC Davis, so I usually look into that to see if it’s something that will affect me like are classes gonna be cancelled or are roads blocked?”

Written by: Gabriela Hernandez arts@theaggie.org 

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here