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A third of teens do not trust online content from family and friends

A whopping 83 percent of consumers are more careful sharing content online than they were 5 years ago according to a new survey.
Written by Eileen Brown, Contributor

We live in a world that is content crazed. Consumers spend about the same amount of time sleeping as engaging with online content (7.8 hours per day).

This time online increases with teens, and millennials, who engage with content for 11.1 hours, and 9.6 hours per day on average respectively, according to a new survey from software company Adobe.

It surveyed over 1,000 people in December 2017 about their use of online content. The survey highlighted that consumers have major trust issues when it comes to online content.

We are media junkies. The survey showed that on average, people spend one third of their day engaging with digital content. This approaches 80 percent of the day for teenagers.

Although consumers are viewing and sharing content at high rates, the survey revealed that 33 percent of American teens do not even trust the content their friends and family are sharing online.

Trust in online content is a huge issue. Trust in online news outlets is more than four times greater than trust in government officials -- despite increased claims of fake news abounding.

Around 29 percent of consumers reported that they trust content from online news outlets, and traditional broadcast outlets (27 percent), more than elected government officials (6 percent).

Respondents reported the second highest level of trust (29 percent) in online news outlets such as CNN, New York Times, and the Washington Post. They have the third highest level of trust (27 percent) in traditional broadcast networks like NBC, CBS, and ABC.

Although 57 percent share content from family, friends or peers they are cautious. Only seven percent of consumers trust that content. Fewer than one third of teen respondents trust content from their own families and friends.

With this skewed relationship between how much content we share and the low level of trust we have with online content it is no wonder that consumers are rejecting poor experiences online.

We need to be connected -- yet we trust less and less. It is up to the major content providers to deliver a trustworthy content stream and minimise the effect of fake news.

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