Global// Instagram: A Rising News Medium and the Erosion of Fact-Based Journalism.

By Tamsin Lacourte
19 September 2020

Long gone are the days of sipping a mug of steaming coffee whilst reading the daily newspaper. For younger generations, clicking on Instagram for the latest news has become second nature. According to the Reuters 2020 Digital News Report, Instagram’s use as a source of news has doubled since 2018 and looks likely to overtake Twitter over the next year. 

In the UK and the US, approximately a quarter of respondents turned to Instagram for news. In other countries, figures reached higher levels of Instagram news consumption. In Germany, 38% of respondents used the social media app, and in Argentina, this reached as high as 49%.

This trend is not necessarily harmless. Instagram is a highly visual space and infographics have become the rising star of the news sphere. Since the priority of accounts is to present a topic in a digestible way while maintaining a certain aesthetic, users are exposed to news that is extremely light on text. Quality and quantity are both sacrificed at the expense of preserving a visually pleasing space. Convenience and accessibility are prioritised at the expense of quality. Viral infographics are limited to a few sentences, making use of various fonts and colours and including illustrative elements. We are far from the thoroughly researched and argumentative pieces of work that can be found on traditional news outlets. 

Another aspect adding to the problem is the ability for anyone to take on the role of a reporter, sparking concerns of factchecking. More often than not, the sources cited are blogs or other secondary mediums that are widely accessible but unfortunately, often replete with misinformation. Take this popular post on e-waste (discarded electrical or electronic products) from an influencer within the sustainability community:

‘In 2018, 41.8 million tons of e-waste was shipped to the Global South to be dumped’

‘The EPA suggests that only 12.5% of e-waste is properly recycled’

When looking at the blog post this information was extracted from, the first statement is not associated with any internal link or reference. It is therefore impossible to ascertain the source of this fact, and therefore the method used to calculate this number. Waste is a particularly difficult category to measure as it depends on the reporting accuracy of all countries which is why the amount of waste will always be an estimate rather than a fact set in stone, which is what the language in the blog statement insinuates. According to the 2017 Global E-waste Monitor report, ‘countries do not cover the complete scope of e-waste, and countries are only partly, if at all, fulfilling their reporting obligations. Secondly, the statistics also do not cover trade of equipment that’s wasted though functional. Therefore statistics on imports and exports of used equipment and e-waste are non-existent or of low quality for most countries.’

The second statement, on the other hand, does have a link but rather than leading to a primary source, the landing page is another blog post which, unsurprisingly, does not make any mention of the source. When independently searching for EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) reports on e-waste, a table on consumer electronics can be obtained from the article ‘Durable Goods: Product-Specific Data’. A quick calculation of the percentage of e-waste recycled in 2017 shows that the rate stood at 35.9%, a much higher figure than was presented in these two blog posts. 

The use of Instagram as a news source is further complicated by the algorithm. Users are more likely to interact with posts that align with their online activity, resulting in them being exposed to content that primarily aligns with their views. Research suggests that limited exposure to differing opinions can create echo chambers, a space that reinforces our own opinions and biases. This is not a new concept, MIT researchers Marshall Van Alstyne and Erik Brynjolfsson warned about the dangers of filtered content in 1996, in ‘Electronic Communities: Global Village or Cyberbalkans?’:

‘Individuals empowered to screen out material that does not conform to their existing preferences may form virtual cliques, insulate themselves from opposing points of view, and reinforce their biases. Internet users can seek out interactions with like-minded individuals who have similar values, and thus become less likely to trust important decisions to people whose values differ from their own.’

A 2015 study published in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America) reported an increase of misinformation due to aggregations of individuals within communities of interest. These echo chambers reinforce questionable notions by giving them an air of legitimacy and fuelling an increasing separation from reality.

Infographics are particularly attractive because of their bite-size information, which means there is no information overload or specialised language. However, it is extremely important keep in mind that Instagram has no standard of veracity and does not fact-check content before it is posted. People need to shift their perception of these posts and start considering them more as updates rather than the equal to news articles – when they stumble across an interesting topic, they should perform their own research, looking into official news and academic articles. 

Tamsin has a background in cancer research and is currently working as a research technician in an early-stage biotech start-up. Tamsin says, "I’ve always been involved in sustainability and friends would often turn to me with relevant questions. This pushed me to share my journey on social media as others may benefit from my knowledge and learning curve. I created my account with the intention of leveraging my scientific background to share factual content whilst encouraging critical engagement of the trends that rock the sustainability ecosystem. With the rising popularity of social media as a news outlet for younger generations, misinformation is spreading like wildfire. This drove me to write the blog post - I needed to address the dangers of fake news and erroneous statements."

"When I’m not researching new content, you’ll usually find me lifting weights or doing some sort of exercise. It’s my go-to happy place, I’m an overthinker and exercising is one of the most effective ways to get me in a flow state. I’d love to get back to painting some day, but now is just not the right time. When things start settling down, I think I’ll pull out my old painting kit. Lockdown has made me appreciate the importance of ‘me time’ and pursuing one’s wellbeing."