America’s first digital generation—so called Millennials, adults 18-34—are hardly “newsless,” 69% of them get news at least once a day. But they consume news and information in strikingly different ways than previous generations, and their paths to discovery are more nuanced and varied, according to the new study by the Media Insight Project, a collaboration of the American Press Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The study provides a comprehensive look at how Millennials learn about the world on different digital platforms and devices. The findings provide valuable insights into the preferences and practices of this generation of news and information consumers, and addresses concerns of researchers and social critics that Millennials are less interested in news than pre-digital folks.

Unlike their parents and grandparents who may typically consume news in discrete sessions or by going directly to news providers, Millennials gather news and information in the way that they connect to the world generally through a mix of news with social connection, problem solving, social action, and entertainment.

The data shows that virtually all Millennials regularly consume a mix of hard news, lifestyle news, and practical “news you can use.” They are more likely to report following politics, crime, technology, their local community, and social issues than following popular culture and celebrities, or style and fashion. Fully 45 percent of these young adults regularly follow five or more “hard news” topics.

They also can be drawn into news by peers recommending and contextualizing it for them on social networks, as well as on more private networks such as group texts and instant messaging.

The social networks also expose Millennials to more news than they were initially seeking, the study finds. Overall, just 47 percent who use Facebook say that getting news is a main motivation for visiting, but it has become one of the significant activities they engage in once they are there. Fully 88 percent of Millennials get news from Facebook regularly, for instance, and more than half of them do so daily.

Among the study’s other findings:

▪   While Millennials are highly equipped, it is not true they are constantly connected. More than 90 percent of adults age 18-34 surveyed own smartphones, and half own tablets. But only half (51 percent) say they are online most or all of the day.

▪   Email is the most common digital activity, but news is a significant part of the online lives of Millennials, as well. Fully 69 percent report getting news at least once a day — 40 percent several times a day.

▪   Millennials acquire news for many reasons, which include a fairly even mix of civic motivations (74 percent), problem-solving needs (63 percent), and social factors (67 percent) such as talking about it with friends.

▪   Contrary to the idea that social media creates a polarizing “filter bubble,” exposing people to only a narrow range of opinions, 70 percent of Millennials say that their social media feeds are comprised of diverse viewpoints evenly mixed between those similar to and different from their own. An additional 16 percent say their feeds contain mostly viewpoints different from their own. And nearly three-quarters of those exposed to different views (73 percent) report they investigate others’ opinions at least some of the time — with a quarter saying they do it always or often.

▪  When it comes to paying for the news, 40 percent of Millennials pay for at least one subscription themselves, including a digital news app (14 percent), a digital magazine (11 percent), a digital subscription to a newspaper (10 percent), or a paid email newsletter (9 percent). When subscriptions used but paid for by others are added, the number of Millennials using some type of paid news subscription in the last year rose to 53 percent.

▪   Facebook has become a nearly ubiquitous part of digital Millennial life. On 24 separate news and information topics probed, Facebook was the No. 1 gateway to learn about 13 of those, and the second-most cited gateway for seven others.

▪   At the same time, younger Millennials express growing frustration with Facebook, and there are signals in the research that the use of social media will continue to splinter with time. Younger Millennials use more social networks (an average of four) than older ones (who average three). They are also more likely than older ones to have cut back on their social media use or dropped a social network completely. In the longer interviews, these younger Millennials describe Facebook like a utility they have to use rather than one they enjoy.

▪   When Millennials want to dig deeper on a subject, search is the dominant method cited by 57 percent (and it is the one cited most often as useful), followed by news sites (23 percent). Only 7 percent cite checking Facebook to learn more.

▪   And when Millennials do dig deeper, the most important qualities that make a destination useful are that they know the source well (57 percent) and that this digital source is transparent and rich with references and links (52 percent).

▪   Millennials, however, do not worry much about privacy. Only 2 in 10 worry a good deal about privacy in general. And when asked about specific concerns, only 22 percent worry even a little about government surveillance; 30 percent worry even a little about corporate America knowing too much about them. The biggest worry, 38 percent, is identity theft.

▪   Despite this lack of overall concern, the vast majority of Millennials (86 percent) have changed their behavior online, mostly to control what people know about them. Fifty-two percent have changed their privacy settings, while 37 percent say they are now more likely to remove information or photos of themselves that are embarrassing or immature.