Loud

More disturbingly, there is evidence that young people may be not just complacent but also poorly informed. A study, published in February, by academics at East Carolina University, surveyed the information habits of 3,500 18-to-24 year olds during the 2008 US presidential campaign. The aim was to investigate whether those learning about news from cable television, comedy shows, podcasts, and social networking sites were equally well-informed about politics. The findings provide few reasons to be optimistic: “Users of these sites tend to seek out views that correspond with their own; they are no more knowledgeable about politics than their counterparts and, in fact, seem to be less so… they do not seem to be more likely to vote.” As David Gelernter, the Yale computer scientist, said: “If this is the information age, what are we so well-informed about?