If you get your financial advice on social media, watch out for misinformation
- Written by Lindsey Appleyard, Assistant Professor, Coventry University
When your parents had financial troubles or questions about planning for the future, they may have sought the help of a financial adviser, their bank, or other professional. Today, many people turn to social media[1].
TikTok in particular has become a hub of financial advice, from money saving hacks[2] and personal stories to investment and stock market advice. But this information is not always reliable. A recent report found that more than 60% of videos[3] shared using the hashtag #StockTok contain inaccurate or misleading information.
MoneyHelper is active on Twitter[18], Facebook[19] and YouTube[20], but could expand to TikTok and Instagram, meeting young people where they are and helping them make good financial decisions.
TikTok has urged users to #FactCheckYourFeed[21], to encourage people to use critical thinking when it comes to news and other informative content on the app. When engaging with financial advice, this can mean asking yourself the five w’s – who, what, when, where and why:
- Who is this person? Are they a regulated financial advisor?
- What are they saying?
- When was this posted?
- Where are they getting their information?
- Why are they sharing this? Is it an ad or are they asking me to sign up to something?
Think about your financial goals and what small steps you can take to help you reach those goals. For example, if you are under 40 years of age, you can save £4,000 tax-free each year in a Lifetime ISA[22] where the government will add a 25% bonus (up to £1000) each year.
Before you make any financial decisions, either talk to someone about your finances before you take action or look at the resources available at independent, charitable organisations such as MoneyHelper, Stepchange and Citizens Advice.
References
- ^ turn to social media (www.ftadviser.com)
- ^ money saving hacks (news.sky.com)
- ^ 60% of videos (www.fastcompany.com)
- ^ This article is part of Quarter Life (theconversation.com)
- ^ Future graduates will pay more in student loan repayments – and the poorest will be worst affected (theconversation.com)
- ^ Four ways you can design social media posts to combat health misinformation (theconversation.com)
- ^ Management lessons from Ted Lasso: the importance of clear goals and positive feedback (theconversation.com)
- ^ financial insecurity (www.thersa.org)
- ^ learn more (journals.sagepub.com)
- ^ research (www.financialfairness.org.uk)
- ^ track emerging trends (papers.ssrn.com)
- ^ Buy Now Pay Later (www.bbc.co.uk)
- ^ Evidence suggests (papers.ssrn.com)
- ^ Buy now pay later: Klarna is courting young shoppers with Paris Hilton and TikTok-style algorithms – here's why it's a problem (theconversation.com)
- ^ how to support themselves (www.moneyhelper.org.uk)
- ^ guide to investing (www.moneyhelper.org.uk)
- ^ Natee Meepian/Shutterstock (www.shutterstock.com)
- ^ Twitter (twitter.com)
- ^ Facebook (www.facebook.com)
- ^ YouTube (www.youtube.com)
- ^ #FactCheckYourFeed (newsroom.tiktok.com)
- ^ Lifetime ISA (www.gov.uk)
