SaySo Study Finds Nearly Two-Thirds of U.S. Adults Receive Information on Midterm Elections from Creators

Top reason is creators offer perspectives not found in traditional media and Gen Z is most likely to doomscroll political content

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, October 6, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Nearly two-thirds (64%) of U.S. adults receive information about the 2026 midterm elections from online creators according to a new survey by SaySo, a video-first news and information app featuring curated content from vetted creators and independent journalists. This number is highest for Gen Z (ages 18 to 29) with 77%, followed by millennials (ages 30 to 45) with 67%.

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Forty-three percent of U.S. adults get election news from creators at least weekly. Among them, nearly half (47%) say they do so because creators cover topics or perspectives they don’t get from traditional news media. Other reasons include finding creators more engaging or relatable (39%), appreciating their ability to explain complicated issues in an easy-to-understand way (37%), and already following them for other content (34%).

Creators aren’t just driving trends, they’re shaping how people think about politics. Of those who get election news from creators at least weekly, over half (52%) say information they’ve seen from an online creator has influenced their opinion of a political candidate, issue, or the 2026 midterm elections. And the influence doesn’t stop there: 46% of U.S. adults say they’d be likely to listen if a creator they already like and follow started talking about a political issue they hadn’t paid much attention to before.

Among U.S. adults who consume creator content about the midterms at least weekly, Gen Z (61%) and millennials (60%) are the most likely to say a creator’s opinion has influenced their views on a political candidate, issue or the midterm election. By contrast, the most common response among Gen X (ages 46 to 61), baby boomers (62 to 80 years old) and the Silent Generation (ages 81 to 98) was that online creators do not influence their views on topics related to the midterm elections.

“People still want to be informed, they just want news delivered differently,” said SaySo creator and seven-time regional Emmy winner Marc Istook. "This research reinforces just how much the way people consume and engage with news is changing.”

Among those regularly consuming creator content about the midterms, more than one-third (36%) say they trust election-related information from creators and traditional media equally, while 34% trust creators more and 30% trust traditional news more. Gen Z and Gen X are the most likely generations to trust creators more.

At the same time, audiences are doing their own due diligence: more than half (54%) say they “always” or “often” double-check election information from creators against other sources. Baby boomers are particularly diligent, with 27% saying they “always” fact-check creator content about elections, the highest share of any generation.

Overall, U.S. adults are showing signs of election-related information overload. Nearly one-third (30%) say they have encountered the same political stories or claims repeatedly, while 28% say they have become less certain about what information to trust. Another 19% say they have continued scrolling through political content even when it made them feel stressed or anxious.

Gen Z appears susceptible to this cycle, with 26% saying they’ve continued scrolling through political content even when it made them feel stressed or anxious, compared with 18% of older generations. Gen Z also reported feeling overwhelmed by the volume of election-related content on social media, with 25% saying they felt this way compared with 13% of people from other generations.

Yet despite the steady stream of election content, greater exposure doesn’t necessarily translate into greater understanding. More than one-third (37%) of U.S. adults who have encountered election-related content on social media say the election-related content they see on social media has left them feeling neither more nor less informed about the key issues shaping the 2026 midterm elections.

“People are understandably fatigued. When you're seeing headlines designed for outrage and you're not sure what to trust anymore, it's impossible not to feel anxious. But this is not the moment to tune out,” said Cydney Adams, Head of Product at SaySo and Caliber. “We built SaySo to help you focus on what actually matters and leave you feeling more informed instead of overwhelmed. It's a way out of the doomscroll and into content that makes you feel more confident about the decision you’ll make at the polls.”

Americans are more divided on turning to AI for information about the 2026 U.S. midterm elections. About one in five (21%) U.S. adults say they would use AI tools to verify political claims they encounter online, highlighting an emerging shift in how Americans evaluate the credibility of information.

Seventeen percent of Americans indicated they would use AI tools to learn more about candidates’ positions on key issues, while another 17% would turn to AI for explanations of political issues or policies. Smaller shares would use AI to learn about election results (15%), voting dates and deadlines (14%), or where and how to vote (11%). However, half (50%) say they would not use AI for any of the election-related topics asked about.

More than two thirds (67%) of U.S. adults are likely to vote in the 2026 midterm elections with 60% saying they are very or somewhat closely following information about the midterms.

Across Caliber, brands including The News Movement and The Recount are also developing timely election-focused news and resources to help creators better inform their audiences. Drawing on its expertise in political news, The Recount recently launched a nonpartisan Creator Voter Guide designed to equip creators with credible, accessible information about the midterms. The Recount will also host a virtual Midterm Creator Summit on October 6, bringing together journalists and creators for a conversation about covering and communicating election news, and an in-person creator gathering for Election Night on November 3.

Methodology:
SaySo commissioned YouGov to conduct the survey. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov. The total sample size was 2,000 U.S. adults. The margin of error is +/- 2.46. Fieldwork was undertaken between September 16 - September 28, 2026.

Chelsea Hudson
Caliber
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