Note: This is a hypothetical project devised in Spring 2021.
The need for media literacy
It is no secret that social media allows for the rapid spread of misinformation. In this paper, misinformation is defined as any unverified or false information portrayed as fact, regardless of intent. Promoting media literacy – the learned skill of being able to identify the quality of information and the presence of bias – is the key to slowing the spread of misinformation on social media. Because of my professional interest in social media and the importance of the free spread of information for the exercise of civic duties, I see the promotion of media literacy to combat misinformation as one of the most important goals we as social media professionals can have.
Humans are naturally predisposed to share novel information, oftentimes without checking for accuracy. The opportunity to persuade, entertain, inform or share an experience with others is often enough motivation to share unverified information on social media. (Ardèvol-Abreu, 2020, p. 3) Misinformation has the tendency to spread through small clusters of people rather than through hierarchical means (Safarnejad, 2020, p. 344) so an effective solution will utilize existing personal networks to promote media literacy skills.
Consequently, centralized responses have not been enough to combat this problem. For example, Facebook’s use of external fact checking is often mistrusted by individuals. (Ardèvol-Abreu, 2020, p. 6) This is not to mention, such responses ignore that misinformation is perpetuated in individual comments on social media even when information is represented accurately in refrenced media. (Anspach, 2020) To fight misinformation effectively in these conditions, there has to be change on the user’s level rather than on the post level.
Promoting media literacy
Because misinformation can be created and spread from virtually anywhere, the most effective way to handle fake news is at the individual level, using personal contacts people already have. This could be achieved by publishing articles aimed at people interested in media literacy on ways they could teach their friends media literacy techniques or by creating a social media presence to put out shareable content promoting media literacy strategies. These efforts could also benefit from more research into why and how misinformation spreads, so that the most efficient strategies can be promoted to slow the spread.
One of the most cost effective and easily implementable long-term plans to promote local change is creating “bitesize” social content to promote media literacy strategies. This strategy gives the added benefit that it directly targets and empowers individuals to make their own decisions about the media they consume, rather than a choice being made for them.
The Truth Uncovered Project
I am proposing the creation of a Facebook page and corresponding Instagram page and website called the Truth Uncovered Project. The page would be searchable by the tag @truthuncoveredproject, which is currently available on both Facebook and Instagram. I decided on the Truth Uncovered name and branding because it will be appealing to people that feel dissatisfied with mainstream media and uses bold red and gold colors to catch the eye.
The need for media literacy
It is no secret that social media allows for the rapid spread of misinformation. In this paper, misinformation is defined as any unverified or false information portrayed as fact, regardless of intent. Promoting media literacy – the learned skill of being able to identify the quality of information and the presence of bias – is the key to slowing the spread of misinformation on social media. Because of my professional interest in social media and the importance of the free spread of information for the exercise of civic duties, I see the promotion of media literacy to combat misinformation as one of the most important goals we as social media professionals can have.
Humans are naturally predisposed to share novel information, oftentimes without checking for accuracy. The opportunity to persuade, entertain, inform or share an experience with others is often enough motivation to share unverified information on social media. (Ardèvol-Abreu, 2020, p. 3) Misinformation has the tendency to spread through small clusters of people rather than through hierarchical means (Safarnejad, 2020, p. 344) so an effective solution will utilize existing personal networks to promote media literacy skills.
Consequently, centralized responses have not been enough to combat this problem. For example, Facebook’s use of external fact checking is often mistrusted by individuals. (Ardèvol-Abreu, 2020, p. 6) This is not to mention, such responses ignore that misinformation is perpetuated in individual comments on social media even when information is represented accurately in refrenced media. (Anspach, 2020) To fight misinformation effectively in these conditions, there has to be change on the user’s level rather than on the post level.
Promoting media literacy
Because misinformation can be created and spread from virtually anywhere, the most effective way to handle fake news is at the individual level, using personal contacts people already have. This could be achieved by publishing articles aimed at people interested in media literacy on ways they could teach their friends media literacy techniques or by creating a social media presence to put out shareable content promoting media literacy strategies. These efforts could also benefit from more research into why and how misinformation spreads, so that the most efficient strategies can be promoted to slow the spread.
One of the most cost effective and easily implementable long-term plans to promote local change is creating “bitesize” social content to promote media literacy strategies. This strategy gives the added benefit that it directly targets and empowers individuals to make their own decisions about the media they consume, rather than a choice being made for them.
The Truth Uncovered Project
I am proposing the creation of a Facebook page and corresponding Instagram page and website called the Truth Uncovered Project. The page would be searchable by the tag @truthuncoveredproject, which is currently available on both Facebook and Instagram. I decided on the Truth Uncovered name and branding because it will be appealing to people that feel dissatisfied with mainstream media and uses bold red and gold colors to catch the eye.
There are several key aspects that could make or break this project. The information shared needs to be accurate and nonbiased. The posts need to be eye-catching, short, and include calls to action promoting sharing. To be as effective as possible, a full social plan should be created that focuses on the above traits, consistent content and highlighting similar organizations.
As I’ve learned at 431 Ministries, having a social media plan is critical for an effective social strategy. Having content planned in advance gives direction and helps maintain consistency, building strong audiences. A key insight from my PR for Nonprofits class is that brands need to communicate with their audiences several times a week in order to be effective on social media, which makes having a social plan invaluable.
The point of this account is not to be the authority on media literacy. It is to use the credibility of personal networks to spread media literacy strategies. The credibility inferred to media being shared by family and friends is substantially higher than the credibility of general news found on social media (Ardèvol-Abreu, 2020, p. 5) so using these connections by calling the audience to share on personal accounts should be our main strategy.
As I’ve learned at 431 Ministries, having a social media plan is critical for an effective social strategy. Having content planned in advance gives direction and helps maintain consistency, building strong audiences. A key insight from my PR for Nonprofits class is that brands need to communicate with their audiences several times a week in order to be effective on social media, which makes having a social plan invaluable.
The point of this account is not to be the authority on media literacy. It is to use the credibility of personal networks to spread media literacy strategies. The credibility inferred to media being shared by family and friends is substantially higher than the credibility of general news found on social media (Ardèvol-Abreu, 2020, p. 5) so using these connections by calling the audience to share on personal accounts should be our main strategy.
Post Description: Sharing something emotionally charged before you have had a chance to verify the information increases the likelihood of fake news being spread. Fighting fake news starts with taking a moment to independently verify before sharing from a social account.
If this tip was helpful for you, share it. To find more tips about media literacy visit our page! Source: https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/the-psychology-of-misinformation-how-to-prevent-it/ |
Artifact 2: Example Facebook Post
Though this plan is not costless, as it takes manhours to research and make the graphics needed, it is incredibly cost effective for its potential local effects. If this specific branding or style isn’t working, the wonder of social media is that one could create almost infinite variations on this theme to try and reach different target audiences.
Using social platforms natively to share accurate information that empowers individuals to identify and stop the spread of misinformation is an elegant and cost effectve strategy.
Bibliography
Anspach, N. M., & Carlson, T. N. (2020). What to Believe? Social Media Commentary and Belief in Misinformation. Political Behavior, 42(3), 697–718. https://doi-org.pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/10.1007/s11109-018-9515-z
Ardèvol-Abreu, A., Delponti, P., & Rodríguez-Wangüemert, C. (2020). Intentional or inadvertent fake news sharing? Fact-checking warnings and users’ interaction with social media content. El Profesional de La Información, 29(5), 1–13.
Safarnejad, L., Xu, Q., Ge, Y., Krishnan, S., Bagarvathi, A., & Chen, S. (2020). Contrasting Misinformation and Real-Information Dissemination Network Structures on Social Media During a Health Emergency. American Journal of Public Health, 110, S340–S347. https://doi-org.pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305854
Shane, T. (2020, July 27). The psychology of misinformation: How to prevent it. Retrieved from First Draft: https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/the-psychology-of-misinformation-how-to-prevent-it/
Using social platforms natively to share accurate information that empowers individuals to identify and stop the spread of misinformation is an elegant and cost effectve strategy.
Bibliography
Anspach, N. M., & Carlson, T. N. (2020). What to Believe? Social Media Commentary and Belief in Misinformation. Political Behavior, 42(3), 697–718. https://doi-org.pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/10.1007/s11109-018-9515-z
Ardèvol-Abreu, A., Delponti, P., & Rodríguez-Wangüemert, C. (2020). Intentional or inadvertent fake news sharing? Fact-checking warnings and users’ interaction with social media content. El Profesional de La Información, 29(5), 1–13.
Safarnejad, L., Xu, Q., Ge, Y., Krishnan, S., Bagarvathi, A., & Chen, S. (2020). Contrasting Misinformation and Real-Information Dissemination Network Structures on Social Media During a Health Emergency. American Journal of Public Health, 110, S340–S347. https://doi-org.pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305854
Shane, T. (2020, July 27). The psychology of misinformation: How to prevent it. Retrieved from First Draft: https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/the-psychology-of-misinformation-how-to-prevent-it/
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