This CU professor looked into how political news on TikTok shapes young voters’ views. Here’s what he found

About this episode

Michaelangelo Landgrave discusses his study on the impact of political news on TikTok on young voters' emotions.

TikTok has become a go-to source for news, especially for younger audiences . But short-form videos on the social network don’t look or sound much like traditional journalism. Users see a stream of bite-size videos that favor strong opinions and controversy over nuance and depth. So, how does consuming political content on TikTok actually affect young people ? Michaelangelo Landgrave is a political scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder, and co-author of a new study that looked into that question. He and his fellow researchers found that TikTok may not change young voters' political views – but it does tend to make them feel more angry, sad or anxious about the world. They recently published their findings in the journal Political Studies Review . Michaelangelo spoke with Erin O’Toole about the study, which he said was partly inspired by seeing his students use TikTok and other social media far more than traditional news outlets. * * * * * Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: NOCO@KUNC.org Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks…

People in this episode

Host: Erin O'Toole

Guest: Michaelangelo Landgrave

Topics covered

• political news
• TikTok
• young voters
• social media
• emotional impact
• journalism

Keywords

• TikTok
• political views
• young audiences
• emotions
• news consumption
• social media

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Colorado Boulder, Political Studies Review, KUNC

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