How Gen Z Became the Most Gullible Generation

[tritsofme]

The video starts with bold red letters blaring: “2016 Democrat Primary Voter Fraud CAUGHT ON TAPE.” A series of blurry security footage follows, showing blatant instances of ballot stuffing. The only problem: The clips actually depict voter fraud in Russia.

Would you have taken the bait?

A quick Google search would have easily revealed the dubious source of the video, along with news articles debunking its claims. But when researchers from Stanford studying young people’s media literacy — the ability to accurately evaluate information in the wilds of mass media — showed the video to 3,446 high school students, only three succeeded in identifying the Russian connection.
“There is this myth of the digital native, that because some people have grown up with digital devices, they are well equipped to make sense of the information that those devices provide,” says Joel Breakstone, who led the 2021 study. “The results were sobering.”

It’s a startling reality about Gen Z, backed up by multiple studies and what we can all see for ourselves: The most online generation is also the worst at discerning fact from fiction on the internet.

That becomes an issue when the internet — and specifically, social media — has become the main source of news for the younger generation

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/04/23/gen-z-media-tiktok-misinformation-00287561

A interesting read and definitely a real problem. You can clearly see the rise of ridiculous conspiracy theories in recent years, unfortunately not confined just to Gen Z.

[NewHendoLib]

1. All of those vid posts here with screaming hyperbole...

It's a big issue

[ShazzieB]

19. The titles of those posts are a problem, but they're not all produced by Gen Z folks.

I'd hate to see people start automatically blaming everything they don't like on Gen Z. We've already been through that with the Millennials. It's inaccurate, and it makes us older folks look like a bunch of fusty old curmudgeons screaming "You kids get off my lawn!"

[NewHendoLib]

21. Agreed - I actually read nothing from anyone with screaming caps

[everybody everybody]

2. Did Gen Z support Trump over Kamala?

If so, has anyone talked to them as to why? Because once again, demonizing and ridiculing a voting bloc isn't good politics IMO.

[Mariana]

3. They did not.

The majority of Gen Z voters supported Kamala.

[everybody everybody]

5. So is that why they're gullible?

Why would someone posting an insulting piece on Gen Z then? That would be insulting Kamala voters.

[Scrivener7]

6. Your slip is showing.

[Torchlight]

7. What are your conclusions?

[Happy Hoosier]

9. Did you read the article? NT

[RandomNumbers]

22. Welcome to DU! ... errr ... oops, never mind!

[MichMan]

4. When TikTok is thought of as a legitimate news source, I'm not surprised

[Scrivener7]

8. I don't think they're more gullible. I think they are bombarded with more believable scams.

Pretty soon the only way to avoid these scams will be to go back to paper news that has been edited and vetted by trusted human hands. That necessitates tolerance of a certain amount of bias from those humans, but that's better than outright scams like this ballot box stuffing example.

[D23MIURG23]

10. Gen Z couldn't vote in 2016, so try again. n/t

[tritsofme]

11. Uh...it says the study was conducted in 2021.

So try again, perhaps?

[Scrivener7]

12. They're 1997 to 2012. So the oldest of them could.

[D23MIURG23]

15. How many years of the Boomers could vote in 2016?

[Scrivener7]

16. How does that apply in this conversation about Gen Z? I'm not supporting the

idea that Gen Z is more gullible (see up-thread). Nor do I think any single cohort is "to blame" for trump. But the OP does show important issues about the use of social media as a news source.

[Celerity]

20. A small correction: 22 months and 9 days of Gen Z could vote then, all those born in 1997 & up until November 9, 1998.

A person born on November 9, 1998 legally became 18 years old on election day, November 8, 2016, and thus could vote.

[PJMcK]

13. Not surprising

I realized what the content would be just from the OP!

The internet has been a blessing as a database of human knowledge, education and entertainment. It's also a swamp of stupidity, falsehoods, rumors and trash. Without a good education and the development of critical thinking abilities-- which our schools have failed at providing thanks to Republican efforts to destroy public education-- these results are predictable. And there's really no solution as the "screen generations" are already baked in.

[Fiendish Thingy]

14. Misinformation manipulates all generations

One study does not convict GenZ of being most gullible.

Go to a Trump rally and calculate the average age of the MAGA cult members.

[writerJT]

17. Indeed. In my experience the worst

is people from a different generation spreading BS they picked up from Facebook. That cohort seems to fall for anything.

[hlthe2b]

18. Reliance on social media and "INFLUENCERS"... Enough said.

I hope they will somehow break out of this pattern of depending on sources with no validation. But we have two extremes--those elderly who are insufficiently technology-aware to avoid the phishing and other scams coming their way. Then we have those young enough to have never learned to avoid the manipulations of many on social media or listen with absolute credulity to the videos and advice from popular "influencers"-whose background and expertise may be beyond questionable.

I'm not saying all in the middle are immune to these issues (they most certainly ARE NOT IMMUNE)- just that the extremes of our generations on either side have some particular vulnerabilities. And... we need to address this problem from both vantage points.