The data are clear that young people consume a plethora of media and information, often in more diverse and complex ways. In an increasingly fragmented social media universe – six online networks (Newman et al. 2025b) now reach more than 10% weekly with news content, compared with just two a decade ago – we see that young people tend to use different but also more platforms. Their growing appetite for audio and visual formats comes with a desire for the intimacy and authenticity of personality-led content. They also tend to be at the forefront of experimentation with new technologies, such as AI, and more open to its use by journalists.