Young people getting information on Instagram and armchair alarmism

A report by the European Parliament finds that for young people aged 16 to 30, social media has become the main source of information on political and social issues. It is the classic statistic that allows us to put our hands on our heads, say that the new generations have fried brains and make a bit of a fuss in the living room. But we should be aware that "getting informed on Instagram" means nothing, just as "getting informed on television" means nothing either: What does watching the news have to do with More 324 by Marina Romero with Horizon Iker Jiménez? Well, the same with social media. Instagram doesn't publish content. It's just a container that contains, by the way, the media. And also users who comment on news they've read in the media.

Two months a year I teach classes to just under a hundred first-year students at UPF. They are not the average – if there is such a thing – but they do fulfil the stereotype: the networks are one of their sources of information. Well, after reading their work and listening to their contributions in class, I always go home feeling reassured: they have an articulate thought and are aware of global debates. And they are as much or more aware than those of my generation were thirty years ago when we arrived at university. Instagram has multiple dangers, from misinformation to the promotion of self-harming behaviour, including excessive fragmentation to the detriment of the ability to concentrate. But you cannot disqualify it wholesale just to feed a cliché. The media must be there, and be there in an attractive way, speaking their language; that before this infinite showcase they have an option based on rigour and honesty, capable of speaking about what interests them. Because the others will be there too.