Teenagers in today’s society typically do not wake up at 6 a.m. and turn on the news. The emergence of cellphones and social media within the last decade has turned teenagers off from watching the news.
Social media sends out live news updates within minutes of newsworthy events taking place. Cell phones are also attached to teenagers in today’s society.
Roderick Miller, a sophomore student at Cabrini University, does not really turn on the television to get his news.
“I just go on Twitter or get updates from my friends if something happens,” Miller said.
Miller went on to explain that not everything he sees on Twitter is credible, so he is careful of what he determines as real news and fake news.
There are also different apps that have recently taken the place of cable news and newspapers. Teenagers from the ages of 13 to 18 on average spend 9 hours a day consuming media, according to Tech Crunch. That is how this generation grew up in this society of technology.
Millennials in particular grew up with the ability to get a phone at a very young age. Nowadays, children receive their first phone at about 10 years old, according to Tech Crunch. That is the way this generation was brought up.
Cell phones are attached to people every hour of every day, and that is how majority of people receive their news.
The way teenagers receive their news intertwines with the way times of the world has changed. This is the first generation that has this much information at their disposal every day.
Runako Brown, a sophomore at Cabrini University, explained how he is connected with his phone and the information he is able to access because of it.
“I have always had some type of cell phone for as long as I could remember,” Brown said.
Brown said he gets news updates on Twitter and updates from Apple that get sent to his phone automatically.
The latest news around the world is automatically updated on the iPhones of individuals. With the latest Apple phone update, there is a tab on the users’ home screen that automatically receives up-to-date news from around the world.
Times have changed due to the technology advancements with phones, computers and other electronic devices. News outlets and major media outlets all have reliable Twitter accounts that can freely update their followers with information within seconds of an event happening.
Technology has improved lives around the world drastically, and also has given this generation the ability to get information on anything in a span of seconds.
John Malone, a Cabrini University sophomore studying exercise science, was shocked when he realized how many teenagers are on their phones.
“That is basically the reason kids my age don’t read newspapers or watch the news on TV,” Malone said. “This generation has all of that in the palm of our hands every second of the day.”
