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[OPINION] Post nang post, wala naman alam sa shinashare
[OPINION] Post nang post, wala naman alam sa shinashare
MIGUEL MAGSUMBOL
Should media literacy be a requirement to use all of social media’s functions?
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Imagine this, your friend shares with you about allegations about someone in your class. These allegations, if true, can destroy that person’s reputation, and possibly lead to his expulsion, yet it is so interesting that you can’t take your mind off it. With this information, what should you do to satisfy your curiosity?
Some of you might have thought of inquiring both parties about the allegations to get a better grasp of what has happened, which is a good way to handle this situation. However, some, if not most people, will click that share button and select multiple profiles to spread the news without thinking about its credibility and accuracy.
This is the sad truth of the majority of social media users. Without knowing, they spread Mis-, Dis-, and Malinformation, in communities. This is due to the lack of media literacy among users, especially those in the lower-income class lacking access to proper education, and not to forget that roughly 58% of the Philippine population is part of the lower-income class.
To minimize the spread of harmful information across social media, there should be a media literacy class requirement to access all the tools present in social media.
Being media literate lessens the spread of mis-, dis- and malinformation. Based on a study about combatting fake news, disinformation, and misinformation, there was a little over half of the participants of the controlled group could identify the legitimacy of the information, while almost three quarters or 73% of the group with the media literacy training were able to accurately assess the legitimacy of a source. This shows a roughly 20% improvement with and without the training.
Percentage of Information Identified on the Presence of Media Literacy Training
Photo from: Taylor & Francis Online
In line with lessening the spread of dangerous information across communities, being media literate also decreases the vulnerability and susceptibility of users. In another study based on the impact of media literacy education on the knowledge and behavioral intention of adolescents when faced with media messages, there was a noticeable change between the pre-test and post-test results of the intervention group. The post-test analysis showed that the participants took a more critical way of viewing these types of media messages unlike both their pre-test and the controlled group’s behavior on these messages.
Media literacy improves the navigation and critical thinking skills in the media. Even from the previous arguments, critical thinking skills play such a crucial role in analyzing and evaluating the legitimacy of information. It also plays a role in one’s navigational skills, as it needs critical thinking to understand what kind of questions should be asked to find the results being inquired. It also trains them to always fact-check information, especially if they are uncertain about its validity.
Of course, implementing a media literacy requirement for social media users will have some points to consider that would make the argument not that ideal. One of them is the actual implementation of a media literacy requirement. This is difficult to set up proof of one's literacy. Although it is possible to use one proof of graduation, not only would it be a hassle to check the proof one by one for millions of citizens, but it would also lead to a digital divide from either low to middle and high-income class, or from kids and teenagers to adults. Not only that, but this would also be impractical for the social media platforms, as it would incentivize netizens to find another platform to use, or entirely stop from using social media. It comes down to whether it is worth sacrificing users for the truth, but in almost all situations, the answer would be a no considering the perspectives of the social media CEOs.
Back in the present time, there are no media literacy requirements for using social media. There is no way to solidify the proof of decreasing the spread of mis-, dis-, and malinformation other than putting multiple factors of media literacy together and considering the current economic and academic state of the country. Although I still stand tall with my stance of implementing the media literacy requirement in the process of creating social media accounts, every netizen still has to promote credibility to where credibility is due most.
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