Emor study: Estonian teens get news from TikTok and Instagram, not news portals

A new study by Emor reveals that most Estonian teenagers aged 13–19 consume news primarily through social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram rather than traditional news portals. Despite this preference, young people in Estonia show a clear dislike for clickbait content.

A new Emor research report on youth media consumption has found that the majority of Estonian teenagers aged 13 to 19 rely on social media as their primary source of news, bypassing traditional news websites and portals entirely.

According to the study, platforms such as TikTok and Instagram have become the dominant channels through which young people in Estonia discover and follow current events. This marks a significant shift away from the established media landscape that older generations continue to use.

Despite their preference for social media-driven news, Estonian youth appear to be discerning consumers — the research found that they actively dislike clickbait-style content, suggesting a level of media literacy even among the youngest news audiences.

The findings raise important questions for Estonian media organisations about how to reach younger audiences effectively without compromising journalistic standards. As the generation that grew up entirely with smartphones comes of age, the gap between traditional and social media news consumption is expected to widen further.