- 86.4% of voters gather their information on politics online
- Younger voters turn to social media, while older voters rely on more traditional TV and print media
The planned confidence vote for Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) this Monday marked a pivotal political turning point just two months before the German federal election in February 2025. A recent survey by eco – Association of the Internet Industry, conducted by Civey, shows the following: Digital information sources are increasingly dominating the political opinion formation of German voters.
Young voters increasingly rely on digital platforms to form political opinions
The representative survey shows that the search for information in the run-up to the federal election is increasingly shifting to digital platforms. A notable 86.4% of Germans use digital media and tools such as social networks, YouTube, the “Wahl-O-Mat” (election compass), educational websites and forums, or podcasts as sources of political information. In particular, younger voters between the ages of 18 and 29 are increasingly turning to social media (48.9%) and educational platforms such as Wahl-O-Mat (39.8%), as well as educational websites such as bpb.de (23.8%), which they actively use to prepare for political decisions. In contrast, older respondents aged 65 and above continue to rely on traditional TV and print media such as ARD, Spiegel or FAZ (65.1%).
The findings illustrate the growing influence of social media and digital tools such as the Wahl-O-Mat on the formation of political opinion in Germany. In this context, Oliver Süme, Chair of the Board at eco, emphasises: “Digitalisation is already fundamentally transforming political decision-making. Social media not only provides information, but also facilitates dialogue and direct interaction with parties and candidates. At the same time, this growing diversity of news sources requires a high level of media literacy.”
Media literacy and digital discourse
As Süme underscores: “Without comprehensive media literacy, already taught in schools, the digital discourse could increasingly be dominated by misinformation.”
About the survey
The survey was commissioned by eco – Association of the Internet Industry and conducted by the market and opinion research institute Civey. 2,501 German citizens of legal age were surveyed on 11 and 12 December 2024. The results are representative. The statistical error of the overall results is 3.5%.
