Do Americans have a healthy information diet? [ft. Mike McCue]

The latest episode of Reality checks with Brian Reitz features Mike McCue, CEO of Flipboard, exploring how Americans feel with the online content consumption experience in 2025.

“What are people’s information diets? How do they think about the information they’re consuming? Do they like what they’re consuming? Do they not like it? Do they feel satisfied? Do they feel like they have a healthy information diet? These are all the kinds of questions that I’m excited to hear more about,” said McCue.

To uncover the reality behind how Americans think about their digital news consumption habits, Flipboard and the YouGov team collaborated on a questionnaire of 1,000 Americans, uncovering information diets, news consumption preferences, and sentiment around digital content consumption.

Men are more likely to think they are viewed as “news junkies”

More than two in five Americans (44%) think they would be very likely or somewhat likely to be described as a “news junkie.”

Men are more likely than women to think they would be considered news junkies, with 54% of men saying they are either very or somewhat likely to be described as such, compared to only 35% of women.

Conversely, nearly half of women (45%) say it's very unlikely they would be described as news junkies, while just over a quarter of men (26%) feel the same way.

Yet women are more likely to think they consume too much content

Overall, nearly half of US adults (47%) think they consume too much digital content, while just 2% think they consume too little.

Although men are more likely to think they are seen as news junkies, they are less likely than women to believe they consume too much content (44% of men vs. 52% of women).

Women are nearly twice as likely as men to feel they consume "way too much" digital content, with 16% of women expressing this sentiment compared to 9% of men. Men are more likely to feel their digital content consumption is "just about right," with 54% selecting this option compared to 46% of women.

Which news topics are over and underserved?

When drilling into specific subject matter consumed online, the survey data confirms an oversaturation of national political news, with 28% of respondents feeling they consume more than desired, and just 9% consuming less than desired.

This overconsumption of national political news contrasts sharply with local political news, where 19% would prefer to consume more and 14% would prefer to consume less.

World news also shows positive demand, with Americans wanting more of this topic than they currently consume (18% want more vs 14% want less = 4% NET consumption demand).

“People are getting redirected, and their emotions and their instincts are being manipulated by these algorithms that are designed to get you to click on things that you wouldn’t normally have decided to opt-in to seeing,” said McCue on Reality checks. “That’s a big challenge that a lot of these social media platforms and algorithms are causing right now.”

The survey finds that the biggest opportunities for news content consumption related to:

• Science and technology news (19% NET consumption demand)
• Travel / trip inspration (9% NET consumption demand)
• News about a hobby (9% NET consumption demand)

Weather news is the most widely consumed (just 7% “don’t consume”), with 77% of Americans feeling like they consume the appropriate amount.

Sports news, while consumed by just over half of respondents, shows the most balance of any topic, with a 0% NET consumption demand.

Which news topics are men looking for?

Men are much more likely to feel like they aren’t consuming enough local political news (10% NET consumption demand vs 0% for women)

Following this, men – who had previously identified as news junkies – expressed that they are much more likely than women to feel like they are consuming too much national political news (-22% NET consumption demand vs -16% for women).

Men are also slightly more likely than women to feel like they aren’t consuming enough travel & trip inspiration content online (11% NET consumption demand vs 8% for women).

Which topics are women looking for?

Women overwhelmingly feel like they are consuming too much national political news (-16% NET consumption demand), entertainment news (-15%) and celebrity news (-12%).

Relative to men, women are slightly more likely to feel like they are not consuming enough world news (6%  NET consumption demand for women vs 3% for men) and business & financial news (5% for women vs 3% men).

How do Americans feel when they consume content online?

Entertainment and curiosity emerge as the dominant emotions for Americans when they consume content online, with 39% of respondents feeling entertained and 37% feeling curious.

“People are inherently curious. They want to learn more. They want to be better versions of themselves,” said McCue on Reality checks. “It’s really important to build a system and an information ecosystem that allows them to have an information diet like that, that feeds those needs.”

These feelings vary across age groups. Younger adults (18-29) report feeling more entertained (44%) compared to their older counterparts (36% for 65+). Curiosity, conversely, increases with age, peaking at 45% for those 65 and older.

Men are more likely to feel curious (41%) when consuming content online compared to women (34%), while women report higher levels of negative emotions like anxiety (21% vs 15% for men) and feeling overwhelmed (28% vs 20% for men).

Looking across education levels, Americans with postgraduate degrees report the highest levels of curiosity (42%) but also the highest levels of feeling overwhelmed (37%) and anxious (28%). Meanwhile, Americans who have not ever been to college are 7x more likely than postgrads to feel happy when they consume online (15% vs 2%).

Perhaps most striking is the correlation between daily screen time and emotional responses. As leisure screen time increases, so does the feeling of being entertained, almost doubling from 31% for those with less than 3 hours of daily screen time to 55% for those spending more than 8 hours. But feelings of being overwhelmed and addiction also increase with screen time, peaking at 33% and 20% respectively for those in the 5-8 hour range.

Americans value control over what shows up in their feeds

The ability to block or mute people/users is considered the most useful tool on social media and while consuming content online. 19% of US general population respondents ranked this feature as their top choice. Following closely, the ability to block or mute topics was ranked second or third most useful by 31% of respondents.

AI summarization was ranked as the least useful tool, with 33% of respondents placing it at the bottom of their list.