- Gen Z prioritizes social signals over fact-checking.
- Comments sections reign supreme for information.
- Cancel culture fears drive Gen Z to private digital spaces.
Scroll, swipe, repeat
Google’s Jigsaw researchers have uncovered surprising insights into Gen Z’s online behavior. Contrary to expectations, these digital natives aren’t fact-checking or deeply evaluating information.
Instead, they’re speed-scrolling to comments, relying on influencers, and prioritizing social signals over traditional notions of authority.
Their approach, dubbed “information sensibility,” focuses on remaining conversant in their social circles rather than pursuing objective truth.
TL;DR: the comments section is the new front page
Gen Z’s digital habits challenge conventional wisdom about information consumption. They view online news through the same lens social interaction, often in “timepass” mode.
Long articles are bypassed, paywalls are shunned, clickbait is dismissed. The comments section reigns supreme, serving both a fact-checking function and a social barometer.
This generation outsources trust to favorite influencers, valuing authenticity over traditional credentials.
The silent scrollers’ dilemma
The specter of cancel culture looms large over Gen Z’s online interactions. They’re hyper-aware of potential social fallout from expressing the wrong opinion.
This awareness drives them to closed group chats and private feeds, where they can safely signal in-group membership.
For Gen Z, navigating the digital landscape isn’t just about information gathering—it’s a delicate dance of social survival in the age of instant global communication.
