Where Do University Students Get Their News?

For young Milanese university students, there a digital divide, the deficiency of information due to a scarce availability of internet access, does not exist. 100% of the 288 students from all kinds of study programs responded "yes" to a question about access to an internet connection, and 80% have access to broadband. This finding comes from the questionnaire designed in Bouncing Between Sources: Milanese university students and information, presented this morning at Bocconi by Paola Dubini, Armando Cirrincione and Sandro Roventi of the Bocconi Research Center ASK Art, Science and Knowledge). Even the use of radio, TV and print media is very widespread. The actual problem can be seen in the selection and assessment of a growing mass of information which is not easy to manage. A fourth of the sample claimed to suffer from a redundancy in information which is confronted by trusting to the pre-selection of various sources. Half of young adults' validation is a social aspect and for two-thirds the reliability of the source is a determining factor.

70% of students dedicate at least half an hour a day to information. Traditional sources of information, with evening news and pay newspapers in the lead, remain the point of reference for the younger segments of the population. Seven informational sources (pay newspapers, newspaper websites, free newspapers, radio, evening news, general portals and word of mouth) are the favored interfaces for young adults, but a variety of other sources (from radio or TV press reviews to newspaper, TV and press agency websites, to teletext and blogs) have actually reached a penetration of over 50%.

"Though the quality of information and the variety of available channels has grown excessively, there is so much low quality information", the three authors of the study argue. "This often creates disorientation among recipients". And the satisfaction of the level of information is therefore limited: 15% of young adults say they are extremely or very satisfied compared to 28% who are not very satisfied or not satisfied at all.

There are several factors that influence the choice of information source. The first factor is content (which, for young adults, should be impartial, complete and varied), then reliability (guaranteed not only by the source's brand or author, but also by the number of users), functionality and ease of availability of the media. Lastly, users look at the possibility of recognition, or rather, how it relates to their own ideas or the circulation in their group of friends.

When explaining why they stay informed, young adults' answers revolve around four reasons: participation in their community; group acceptance; identity, with information used to broaden their horizons and become a lifestyle; and the inevitability of the "background noise" generated by an information overload.

The three scholars have designed categories of young adult information users, divided into four profiles.

Socials (16%) are most of all driven to be informed by the need to be accepted and to participate. Men that study social sciences and who are from medium and large towns are overrepresented in the group. Importance is given to content quality and functionality when choosing sources and the reliability of one source over another is based on the social recognition attributed to it.

Followers (25%) are characterized by a passive relationship with information and become informed only to receive group social acceptance. They show little interest in politics and higher than average interest in society news and information on consumer products. They are mostly from small towns and use various sources, favoring the radio and free newspapers. Ease of availability and functionality are the characteristics of the preferred sources.

Identifiers (28%) are informed regarding personal interests and lifestyle and are prevalently men who pursue law or technical studies. Their average consumption is almost exactly the opposite of the followers: free newspapers, newspaper websites and television are neglected, in favor mostly of general portals. Source flexibility, in terms of the possibility of personalization, is the most valued characteristic. In the evaluation of source dependability, reliability is more important than clarity.

Children of their time (31%) gather information driven most of all by the desire to participate and understand the world. They find information redundant, but cannot get away from it. Prevalently women enrolled in scientific and medical fields, they love the radio and humanistic topics. Functionality, authority and the possibility of recognition are the characteristics that influence the choice of one source of information over another. According to them, dependability is determined by social recognition and clarity.

Information sources for young adults

Satisfaction of level of information

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