Nick Brown turned 18 in September and will vote for the first time in November. But the Brandon, S.D., resident admits he has some research to do.
鈥淎s of right now I know nothing,鈥� said Brown, whose high school law and government teacher registered voting-age students in class. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 follow politics at all, so I need to educate myself before I go in and vote.鈥�
Many first-time voters are just like Brown鈥攖hey鈥檙e excited about voting, but need information about candidates, issues, and even how and where to cast their ballots. They鈥檙e seeking these answers from a laundry list of sources鈥攆amily, social media platforms, YouTube, teachers鈥攁nd often they鈥檙e consulting a handful of these sources at once.
But could the influence of so many outlets鈥攅specially social media, with its inherent hyperbole, fake news, and nonstop news cycle鈥攎ean young voters are getting a skewed version of the truth? Not necessarily, said Carolyn DeWitt, the president and executive director of Rock the Vote, a nonpartisan youth-voting organization.
鈥淭his generation 鈥� is incredibly skeptical and critical,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut we have to do a better job with media literacy. Knowing how to fact-check and find credible sources鈥� is key.
Brown鈥檚 first course of action is to talk to his parents.
It鈥檚 the same step most young voters take. Nearly 39 percent of 18- and 19-year olds who responded to an 91制片厂视频 Week Research Center survey about voting said they turned to family members to help them decide how to vote. It was the top choice among respondents.
But Brown said just because he鈥檚 gathering information from his parents doesn鈥檛 mean he鈥檚 going to vote the way they do. 鈥淪ome things we agree on and some we don鈥檛 at all,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 find my own opinions.鈥�
For Delsa Guerrero-Castillo, a 20-year-old junior at Clark Atlanta University in Georgia, social media plays a significant role in the information she鈥檚 collecting about elections. Twitter and Instagram are her main social media sources. She feels she gets helpful background information about candidates there, and she likes watching videos about issues.
Guerrero-Castillo said she takes note of what friends post and retweet, and also searches Twitter using hashtags to get differing perspectives on candidates. For example #StaceyAbrams鈥攖he name of Georgia鈥檚 Democratic candidate for governor鈥攊s a common search of hers.
But Guerrero-Castillo also is attuned to the fact that information gleaned on social media may not be reliable. 鈥淚鈥檓 aware it can be pretty biased, so I look on Google to double-check information,鈥� she said. She considers social media 鈥渁 double-edged sword,鈥� because there鈥檚 a lot of information available, but it鈥檚 not always reliable and her generation can be swayed by what they consume there.
Respondents to the 91制片厂视频 Week Research Center survey said they got a significant amount of election-related information on social media: 30 percent used Instagram, 25 percent used Facebook, 23 percent tapped Snapchat, and 21 percent looked to Twitter. The September survey was conducted with support from the 91制片厂视频 Writers Association.
That survey result is mostly in line with those from a 2018 college pre-election civic youth poll by the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life鈥檚 , based at Tufts University. But that poll, which questioned 18- to 24-year-olds in September who said they would be first-time voters in this election, also found 90 percent of respondents turned to up to six types of sources for election information.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e hearing about elections in different places,鈥� said Abby Kiesa, the director of impact at CIRCLE. And even if the source is social media, information may come from friends and family, outside organizations, candidates, or news sources.
But there are concerns about the impact and reach of social media. Fake news, manipulation techniques, disinformation, and even a phenomena like Instagram flop accounts鈥攑laces where discussions on hot-button topics may spread incorrect and unreliable information鈥攁ll worry observers.
鈥淚t raises a concern because of what we saw in 2016 with disinformation about campaigns on Facebook and Twitter,鈥� Kiesa said.
But just because young voters are swimming in the social media pond, that doesn鈥檛 always mean they鈥檙e being taken in by information that鈥檚 skewed, she said. 鈥淲hen a young person is looking at a social media outlet, they might be looking at specific people they trust and writing off others,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat trust on social media is important.鈥�
In fact, a report released in October by the Pew Research Center what information is accurate.
In that survey, a third of 18- to 49-year-olds were able to determine whether statements presented to them were fact or fiction, and 44 percent were able to classify which statements were opinions.
A bigger problem, however, may be that younger voters often aren鈥檛 getting much information at all about elections, said Clarissa Martinez, the deputy vice president in the office of research, advocacy, and legislation at the nonpartisan Hispanic voter group , which has a youth-voting initiative called the . That鈥檚 particularly true among young Latino voters, she said.
鈥淚n many ways, candidates and parties are not reaching out,鈥� she said. 鈥淵oung voters often feel they don鈥檛 have enough accurate information.鈥�
In the 91制片厂视频 Week Research Center poll, prospective voters also rated television news (cited by nearly 38 percent), YouTube (named by 33 percent), and school and teachers (selected by 32 percent) as important sources of information.
For Maggi Davis, a University of Vermont freshman from Denver, it took some digging to make her election choices. Looking at her absentee ballot, she realized she wasn鈥檛 familiar with the candidates鈥� names or with the ballot initiatives. Before she sent the ballot off, she talked to her parents, and went to the website of her local news station in Denver鈥擪USA 9News鈥攚hich featured what she considered to be an impartial review of candidates and issues.
She avoided social media because 鈥淚 know that鈥檚 pretty biased,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was trying to go for reliable, not partisan, information.鈥�
Afterward she felt ready to fill out her ballot. So does Guerrero-Castillo in Atlanta, who didn鈥檛 vote the first time she had an opportunity to in 2016.
鈥淚 missed out on the importance of having my voice heard,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to miss out on that again.鈥�
