“If it’s not on my feed, did it even happen?” – says Mayraliz Rivera (Morriss), a freshman of Business Management major at Texas State University. She starts her day the way most Bobcats do; scrolling through instagram before class. She taps through Instagram reels and sports highlights, catching the latest updates from her favorite athletic teams. “Checking Instagram in the morning keeps me updated without even trying,” she says with a smile. Between dance videos and memes, a short clip about the upcoming game day pops up. She double-taps, swipes past, and later admits she can’t even remember the source.
For Morriss, social media, especially Instagram has become her personal gateway to news and trends. Photos, reels, and short videos keep her connected not only to the outside world, but also to a broader sense of community on campus and beyond.
Another undergrad student Kiara Ranson major in Exercise Sports Science (Senior) mentions, she usually checks Instagram between her classes as well. She follows university accounts, where campus organizations share updates. At night, her roommates discuss something they read on facebook about TXST joining the Pac-12 conference as a foundational member of the league’s relaunch, beginning with the 2026-27 season, and suddenly the news has made its way into their apartment.
According to Business of Apps Analysis, Company data, Instagram is one of the world’s leading social media sites that enables users to share images and videos, add captions, edit using filters and view other people’s profiles. Launched in 2010, according to Business of Apps Analysis, 2 billion people use Instagram every month with 500 million using the Instagram stories feature every day.
Nearly half of Americans use Instagram, with the platform seeing its strongest following among teens and young adults. Beyond sharing and social interaction, Instagram has also emerged as a news hub; 16% of U.S. adults report turning to the app regularly for news and information mentioned in an Pew Research.
While Instagram is rising, Facebook and YouTube remain the leading sources of news overall for US adults mostly. About one-third of U.S. adults say they regularly get news from these platforms. But for younger generations, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) are losing ground. Pew Research shows only 32% of teens use Facebook today, compared to 71% a decade ago. X has slipped even further, with just 17% of teens still active.
According to the Statista 2022 report, most 18–25-year-olds now rely on social media for news. This shows that students are not uninterested in current events; instead, they are flooded with constant alerts, platforms, opinions, and information, which often feels overwhelming through different social media platforms.
@PEW RESEARCH CENTER
At Texas State University, social media is the go-to source for news. According to Ariana Perez, social media manager for TXST Athletics, Instagram is the primary platform for students, with 54.1% of women and 45.9% of men turning to the app for updates. Among adults, Facebook leads the way, with 55.4% of women and 44.6% of men following TXST’s official page for news. National figures reflect a similar pattern; Pew Research shows Gen Z now relies on social platforms for news at nearly twice the rate of older adults.
@TXST Athletics Page and accounts analytics
When Henry Jewesson Alex, an undergraduate student of Communication Studies, wants to know what’s happening in the world, he doesn’t open CNN or The New York Times. Instead, he checks his Instagram account that posts quick, meme-style updates. His friend, Daniela Recabarren, major in International Studies, prefers Instagram infographics shared by student groups. The problem? Neither of them sees the other’s sources, meaning they’re living in two very different news worlds.
For many Bobcats, picking up a daily paper or watching the evening news feels like something from another era. Instead, students are surrounded by an endless stream of updates, alerts, notifications, posts, and messages delivered to the palm of their hands. The age of digital platforms and mobile devices has created a culture of instant information.
Still, not everything comes from a screen. A Project Information Literacy survey shows that 93% of students hear about news directly through discussions with peers. Word of mouth, whether over coffee or in a group chat, continues to play a surprisingly strong role in shaping what students know. Alison J. Head, founder of Project Information Literacy, notes that “Facebook is dying” as students increasingly turn to Snapchat, Instagram, and memes for highly visual, passive news consumption.
For college students, Instagram’s appeal lies in its speed and accessibility. A reel or story can pack the headlines into 15 seconds, sandwiched between a cooking tip and a funny video. Students may not always remember the source, but the information still travels, shaping conversations across campus.
Students cross The Quad at Texas State University between classes on a sunny October afternoon. Social media often keeps them connected to campus news and events. 
Dylan Long, a biology student and National Guardsman, scrolls through TikTok; that’s his go-to platform for news and entertainment. Aware of the misinformation that circulates online, he double-checks multiple sources before sharing any post. 
Texas State juniors Julissa Sanchez and Nea Connor, both studying Criminal Justice, use TikTok and Instagram to keep up with current events and exchange fun trends. 
News travels fast – from one phone screen to another. Two TXST students catch up on the latest campus buzz between classes. 
Lucy Stephens, a psychology major and art minor at TXST, uses Instagram thoughtfully; engaging with its creativity while remaining mindful not to believe everything she sees online. 
On the way to class, Bobcats scroll through feeds for quick news updates. 
Kaci McGinnis, a Psychology and Human Development student at Texas State University, enjoys social media and stays informed by following the university’s official social media accounts for the latest news and updates. 
Kendall Baker, a senior majoring in Anthropology at TXST, uses Instagram primarily to stay connected, though she engages with the platform less frequently. 
TXST students navigate the quad, phones in hand, illustrating a shift in news consumption. For many young adults, information is now accessed through social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, rather than traditional outlets, highlighting a broader transformation in how news is discovered and shared. 
As a TXST student walks by the LBJ Student Center, TXST’s social media user trends mirror national patterns: younger audiences prefer Instagram for news, while older adults rely on Facebook. 
As Texas State continues to grow, the way its students access news will keep evolving. Social media is shaping not only how Bobcats stay informed, but also how they create community around the stories. 
TXST peers collaborate to support another bobcat, Irfan Zarif, an English major, by sharing his research online on how neurodiversity can influence individuals’ dating experiences. 
For many Bobcats, picking up a daily paper or watching the evening news feels like something from another era. Instead, students are surrounded by an endless stream of updates, alerts, notifications, posts, and messages delivered to the palm of their hands. 
At Texas State, Instagram and TikTok lead the scoreboard when it comes to news and campus updates. For most students, the latest headlines are just a swipe away 
At the TXST vs. JMU football game, a spectator balances the thrill of the match with digital connection; sending live score updates to friends and family as the crowd rallies under the stadium lights 
Digital media communications graduate student Dejahnae Thompson browses the TXST Athletics Instagram page to catch up on the latest game highlights 
Dejahnae smiles while watching an Instagram reel about the upcoming home game, one of her favorite ways to stay informed
For many, social media news feels more immediate and engaging. But it also comes with challenges, misinformation, unclear sources, and the difficulty of remembering where a piece of news originated. As Morriss’s story showed, students often know what’s happening but can’t recall exactly where they saw it.
The story of how Texas State students get their news reflects a much bigger trend. The traditional gatekeepers of information, TV anchors, newspapers, even websites are no longer the first stop for young audiences. Instead, the front lines of news are happening in Instagram reels, TikTok trends, and conversations between friends.
Survey results from TXST students reveal the type of news they care about most 
Survey findings show the top three social media platforms used most frequently by Texas State students 
On average, how much time do TXST students spend scrolling news or trends each day? 
How much do Texas State students trust news on social media? 
TXST survey highlights student experiences with unknowingly spreading false or misleading content online 
What’s the first thing TXST students do when you see breaking news online? 
Do TXST students share news with friends or family after reading/watching it?
As Texas State continues to grow, the way its students access news will keep evolving. Social media is shaping not only how Bobcats stay informed, but also how they share, discuss, and create community around the stories that matter to them.
Ariana Perez and Angie Vasquez shares how Bobcats engage with social media and highlight the importance of verifying information before sharing it. Tune in to the audio story to hear more;
