ALGORITHMIC FEEDS, MISINFORMATION, AND CIVIC TRUST AMONG YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULTS: A REVIEW OF SOCIAL MEDIA INFORMATION ENVIRONMENTS

Abstract

This review examines how algorithmically curated social media environments shape misinformation exposure and civic trust among youth and young adults. The reviewed literature spans longitudinal surveys, field experiments, behavioral tracking, qualitative interviews, review papers, and conceptual studies. Taken together, it shows that the civic consequences of social media are not determined by platform use alone. They depend on the interaction of ranking logics, peer networks, source credibility, corrective infrastructures, and the developmental needs of younger users. Three major patterns emerge. First, engagement-driven and homophilous information environments intensify selective exposure and support the diffusion of misinformation, especially when content is emotionally charged, identity-affirming, and repeatedly encountered within tightly clustered networks. Second, exposure to verified and professionally produced news on social platforms can improve current affairs knowledge, belief accuracy, and trust in news under specific conditions. Third, youth and young adults experience social media as both a civic resource and a civic risk: it supports belonging, sociopolitical learning, digital organizing, and collective action, yet it can also heighten institutional distrust, vicarious trauma, harassment, burnout, and radicalization pressures. The review argues that civic trust is best understood as a dynamic outcome of social media information environments rather than a simple by-product of platform use. It concludes that democratic resilience among younger publics is more likely when platforms reward informational quality and context, when institutions communicate credibly, and when youth-centered media literacy supports critical but constructive participation.