Unvarnished truth of social media: Why critical media literacy is needed (now more than ever)
Biographical Sketch
Allison Butler, PhD, is a Lecturer-Advisor and Director of the Media Literacy Certificate Program in the Department of Communication at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Butler is the author of two books on media literacy and education, Media education goes to school: Young people make meaning of media and urban education (2010, Peter Lang Press) and Majoring in change: Young people use social networking to reflect on high school, college and work (2012, Peter Lang Press) as well as several articles and book chapters, all drawn from community work with young people, media literacy, and education. Most recently, she published the chapter Policy, participation and practice: Assessing media literacy in the digital age in the edited volume Media education for a digital generation (eds. Frechette and Williams, 2016, Routledge Press) and Teacher training, lesson plan development, and classroom integration: Notes on the process of building a media literacy curriculum in the international Media Education Research Journal (2016, volume 6, issue 2).
Type of Presentation
Individual presentation
Brief Description of Presentation
This presentation will share the stories of young people grappling with the "truth" of social media and explore their trust and struggles with social media. The presentation will argue that in the face of an "always on" relationship with the media, critical media literacy is a necessary intervention. With its emphasis on collaboration and continuous critical inquiry, it is critical media literacy's responsibility to work against the rising tide of neoliberalism.
Abstract of Proposal
In 2016, the Stanford History Education Group released findings from a study of nearly 8000 middle-school through college students on their understandings and sense making of digital media. The researchers were especially curious to see if young people could distinguish between advertisements and news, recognize ownership and motivation, and understand multiple perspectives on an issue. Their results, released soon after the contentious 2016 presidential election, revealed that the majority of young people do not have the skills to critically assess their media - which, while disheartening on its own, is even more troubling coming on the heels of an election marked most strongly by a "post-truth" mentality. Youth are often praised for their digital prowess, but this study revealed that their skills stop short of analysis.
This presentation digs deeper into the gap between action and analysis to share the words of young people as they grapple with their own social media use. Drawn from in-person focus group and private interviews with young adults, aged 15-21, from a variety of economic, gender, race, and educational backgrounds, this presentation argues that in the age of "always on" digital, social media, critical media literacy is needed now, possibly more than ever before. Overall, young people know - on an intuitive level - that they should not believe everything they scroll through on their various social media platforms, but they do not have the skills to intervene. This presentation will work to share ways to bring critical media literacy to the conversation to support young people (and their teachers and families) combat the onslaught of data currently available.
Location
Coastal Georgia Center
Start Date
2-25-2017 9:50 AM
End Date
2-25-2017 11:20 AM
Recommended Citation
Butler, Allison, "Unvarnished truth of social media: Why critical media literacy is needed (now more than ever)" (2017). International Critical Media Literacy Conference. 20.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/criticalmedialiteracy/2017/2017/20
Unvarnished truth of social media: Why critical media literacy is needed (now more than ever)
Coastal Georgia Center
In 2016, the Stanford History Education Group released findings from a study of nearly 8000 middle-school through college students on their understandings and sense making of digital media. The researchers were especially curious to see if young people could distinguish between advertisements and news, recognize ownership and motivation, and understand multiple perspectives on an issue. Their results, released soon after the contentious 2016 presidential election, revealed that the majority of young people do not have the skills to critically assess their media - which, while disheartening on its own, is even more troubling coming on the heels of an election marked most strongly by a "post-truth" mentality. Youth are often praised for their digital prowess, but this study revealed that their skills stop short of analysis.
This presentation digs deeper into the gap between action and analysis to share the words of young people as they grapple with their own social media use. Drawn from in-person focus group and private interviews with young adults, aged 15-21, from a variety of economic, gender, race, and educational backgrounds, this presentation argues that in the age of "always on" digital, social media, critical media literacy is needed now, possibly more than ever before. Overall, young people know - on an intuitive level - that they should not believe everything they scroll through on their various social media platforms, but they do not have the skills to intervene. This presentation will work to share ways to bring critical media literacy to the conversation to support young people (and their teachers and families) combat the onslaught of data currently available.
