Spain Media Literacy

MEDIA LITERACY IN SOCIAL MEDIA

By ıntercambıa

What does literacy

mean?

Before we look at internet literacy, it is useful to
understand what literacy means. Literacy is the ability
to read and write and to understand the meaning of
the words you read. Most of us learn how to read at
school and are provided with a suitable material in a
structured manner to develop this skill.

What is Internet literacy?

Internet literacy is the ability to use devices, such as smartphones or laptops, to
access the internet. It covers accessing websites and apps, navigating through them
to access content, and understanding, to some extent, how and why someone
published that content online. The content you access on a website was put there
by someone for a purpose, and the hyperlinks are chosen to direct you somewhere
specific. Some content encourages responsible sharing through licenses such as
Creative Commons while other content’s specific aim is ‘go viral’. Likewise, the
results from search engines such as Google are not purely information but are
based on factors such as your location and your online profile. Lastly, the internet is
a commercial space, and adverts are often hidden as Instagram posts or blog
articles. An aspect of internet literacy is the ability to identify what is an advert or
not.

What is internet media literacy? And what is

social media literacy?

Media literacy is the process by which we identify what media is in the digital age. TV shows, text messages, social
media, advertising, video games and online video are all considered media. The second component of media literacy is to
identify the messages that the media is sending out. All media was created by someone and for a reason. And now, with
today’s digital technology, anyone can be a media creator.
Social media literacy is looking specifically at platforms such as Facebook or Twitter and learning how to critically
analyse the content published here from a technical, cognitive, and emotional angle. The technical aspects centre on
being aware of how the platform works – who can post what content, how it can be interacted with, and the underlying
algorithms that present certain users’ content to you. Cognitively, you need to be able to identify what a reliable source
on social media is by looking at, for example, the user’s bio, the number of followers, date when they joined and offline
affiliations. Lastly, social media literacy is also about being aware of your emotions and how you react to specific
content and interactions.

What skills are developed from

internet or social media literacy?

The ability to critically think about social media posts and online
news stories makes you an educated consumer of these products.
Ideally these skills should be part of a 21st Century education.
Likewise, the understanding that media is constructed from a
particular point of view is an important skill. As an extension of
this, the ability to identify the role these media play in our politics
and society allows you to see the values embedded in these media
and who benefits from pushing these values.

What are the benefits of internet

or social media literacy?

If you are social media literate, you should critically think
about the media you consume and verify sources online. Tied
to this is the responsible sharing of media online and thinking
through the consequences of how certain media can affect
our society. This then allows you to become an accountable
creator of media messages

Some questions to ask yourself

when analysing social media posts

1.Who made this post? There is always a creator of content online. In some cases, it is not the individual whose
account is but rather an organisation or company.
2.Why has it attracted my attention? Is the creator using specific techniques? Are they working on my emotions or
responding to my unconscious fears or biases?
3.How am I interpreting the message in this post? Will other people understand it the same way? Or can different
people see different messages in this content?
4.What values are foregrounded in the post? What lifestyle is portrayed? What is not represented?
5.Lastly, why was the post made? What is its purpose, and who is it serving?

Some questions to ask

yourself when analysing

social media posts

If you ask these questions regularly about the social media
you consume, you will begin to identify the ways post have
been created and for what purposes. You’ll also question the
reason behind the social media posts you make and share. A
society that is internet literate is a society that works better
with less chance of being swayed by populist arguments or

emotions, which is a society I want to live in.

Thank You!