Has Social Media Destroyed Young Adults’ Literacy Skills?
Submitted as an assignment in MCO 302
Media literacy can be defined as “… a 21st century approach to education. It provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate, and create messages in a variety of forms – from print, to video, to the Internet. Media literacy builds an understanding of the role of media in society as well as essential skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy” (Center for Media Literacy, n.d.). Additionally, the Oxford Dictionary of English has further defined it as “ the ability to critically analyze stories presented in the mass media and to determine their accuracy or credibility” (Oxford Dictionary of English, n.d.). A large reason why this term has become so widely used is by the advent of social media into the world. No longer is the average person just waiting to pick up a magazine or newspaper or turn on the television to get breaking and critical news. For example, Pew Research conducted a study that noted that in 2023, 32% of adults between 18 and 29 get their news from TikTok, which has gone up from 9% in 2021 (Matsa, 2023). Additionally, from a 2022 Pew Research study, 50% of adults between 18 and 29 noted that they have a level of trust for information they receive from social media in comparison to 62% and 56% having trust in local and national news (Liedke and Gottfried, 2022). Al-Quran (2022) notes that the rapid adaption to social media has created distance between individuals and the public, even though they are more connected than ever, and that there is a higher chance for deepfakes, impersonations, and other false images perpetuated that skew the media consumed. This shows that social media has transformed how younger generations get their news and raises the question of how they navigate all the content constantly being thrown at them.
Literature Review
Tilleul (2023) notes at the beginning of her research article that the media market is constantly changing and directly impacting young adults- therefore, it is critical that they develop their literacy skills. Does the ability to competently navigate media formats correlate to young adults having effective literacy skills? From a look at prior research, it seems that that is not always the case. Tilleul (2023) chooses to look at the relationship between frequent social media use and media literacy in Belgian young adults.
Media Literacy Importance
Since the definition of media literacy has changed over the years, it’s important to see what it entails for current times. From the research of Pierre Fastrez and Thierry De Smedt comes a comprehensive breakdown of what media literacy encompasses. It is “… a set of competences to perform four types of media activities: reading (analyzing and evaluating media messages), navigating (exploring and selecting media based on a variety of criteria), writing ( creating and disseminating media productions), and organizing (categorizing media according to relevant criteria)” (Tilleul, 2023). This model demonstrates the importance of it in daily life. It involves thinking critically about the content that is posted. It involves being selective about what outlets are used for being informed. It in turn leads to how that news is shared and restated by the person who consumed the content. At the end of the loop, it plays into how a person views news and ranks the credibility of what is marketed.
Effects on Young Adults
From a survey conducted with 350 Belgian young adults, the results showed that most young adults have average media literacy skills that lean more into surface level identification of media formats and content, but a less tendency to delve into the deeper messages of interpretations and ideals that media promotes (Tilleul, 2023). It also was shown that spending significant more time on basic social media activities (liking, sharing, commenting on posts etc.) correlated with scoring lower in a media literacy test (Tilleul, 2023).
Research Question
While the study posed by Tilleul (2023) looked at Belgian young adults and noted that they tended to have less developed media literacy skills, it would be useful to see how American young adults would compare themselves. As has been previously stated, these skills are necessary to be able to navigate the constant barrage of news and content that is shared. The following is the research question that would be the baseline of the study: How does constant access to social media affect young adults and their media literacy?
Method
Demographics
The range of participants would be 30 to 40 English speaking Arizona State University students across various degree programs and departments. The age range would be from 18 to 25 years old. The reasoning for this selection would be that a larger group of students on college campuses are between those age ranges and would make the best sample of young adults to interview about social media habits.
Procedures for Recruitment and Interview Conduction
Potential participants would be identified through the use of contacts in each ASU department head’s office. These contacts would push out information about the study primarily by email and word of mouth. For more traction, advertisements would also be displayed on various ASU social media pages. Those interested would need to follow the link in their email or on the social media page in order to enter. Participants would also be required to sign a consent form that allows video and audio recording of their interviews. Data pseudonymization would be used to ensure members identities are revealed.
Interviews would be conducted with the researcher’s team through the use of a video sharing application such as Teams or Zoom. The interviews would range from 30 to 45 minutes and would be conducted within a two-month radius. Audio and video would be recorded using the platform’s capabilities and transcribed through capable software.
The main researcher and assistant would have access to all of the data and would keep it stored in ASU’s cloud storage which is password protected. Audio and video recordings would be assigned a code based on the interviewee to ensure no documentation goes by identifiable names. A separate folder would be maintained with all consent/permission forms that is password protected. Any contact info willfully provided by the participants for follow-up ( email, phone number etc.) would be maintained in a separate document not directly linked to the research data. All info dealing with the study would be stored on file for 2 years.
Interview Protocol
As these would be semi-standardized interviews that allow for adjustments to questions and language, the questions posed would be semi-structured as well. The following is an excerpt of some of the questions that would be posed to the participants based on the topic.
| Social Media Usage |
| Could you tell me about your social media habits? |
| What is the main reason that you use social media? Do you have more reasons that you can provide? |
| How often are you on social media? Would you consider that to be a healthy amount of time? |
| What type of news accounts do you subscribe to? |
| What type of news content do you prefer to view? |
| Do you have notifications on for news-related applications? How often do you click on those notifications immediately and read a full post/article on the topic? |
| Reactions to Social Media |
| What news issues matter to you? |
| How does most news on social media make you feel? |
| What impact do you think social media news content has had on you? Do instant notifications contribute to that? |
| Would you say social media gives you a more positive or negative outlook on life? Why? |
| Media Literacy |
| Do you tend to read more critical/breaking news on social media or on traditional media sites? |
| How often do you check the news? |
| What is your view of most news content? Has it changed because of social media? |
| How would you define media literacy? |
| What questions do you ask when analyzing news posts/articles that you read? Can you explain where you developed those skills? |
| What policies do you think should be developed to address false news? |
| What is the importance of practicing media literacy when reading the news? |
| Do you think other young adults practice media literacy skills? Why or why not? |
| How does you feel that constant access to social media affect young adults and their media literacy skills? |
The nature of the interview structure is that follow-up questions would be asked based on the participant’s answers. There would be times when the interviewer would clarify a question based on the answer received or request a little more information. There also would be times where the interviewer would be quiet and allow the participant to expound on his story or think through his response. Off-the-cuff questions could be added to lighten up the mood at the beginning and at the end of the interview.
Advantages and Limitations
The main advantage to conducting a study using a live interview method is the ability to connect with an individual face-to-face. That gives the researcher as well as the participant the ability to see body language and determine tone with a less margin for miscommunication. This format also allows for good cross talk back and forth and the ability to dig deeper into conversations that otherwise may be more surface level in other formats ( i.e. survey, asynchronous interview).
While those are the benefits of the study, there will always be limitations also. While designated points of contact will be tasked to recruit ASU students, there is the understandable risk that many will not express interest or some will initially be on board but choose not to continue with the full process. Demographics dealing with race, gender, economic status etc. may not be fully representative of all groups of people that attend ASU. This study would be more limited based on the number of people that participate; a larger number of people would inherently provide more varied outlooks and opinions. Biases could be developed during the interview progress because of various things like tone, question type, and visual reaction. Interviews will take a lot more time and money as software would need to be procured for interview recording, editing, and transcribing. There is a limitation that software could break or not work properly, causing delays and lost footage of recorded content. During the actual interviews, participants may misunderstand questions asked and not respond appropriately; on the other hand, the interviewee may alter questions or pose questions that are unnecessary and not helpful. It is therefore essential that all of these factors (and more) are taken into consideration when planning out aspects of the study.
References
Al-Quran, M. (2022). Traditional media versus social media: challenges and opportunities. Technium: Romanian Journal of Applied Sciences and Technology. 4. 145-160. 10.47577/technium.v4i10.8012.
Center for Media Literacy. (n.d.) What is Media Literacy? A Definition… and More. Accessed 13 November 2023 from https://www.medialit.org/reading-room/what-media-literacy-definitionand-more
Liedke, J. and Gottfried, J. (2022, October 22). U.S. adults under 30 now trust information from social media almost as much as from national news outlets. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/10/27/u-s-adults-under-30-now-trust-information-from-social-media-almost-as-much-as-from-national-news-outlets/
Matsa, K. E. (2023, November 15). More Americans are getting news on TikTok, bucking the trend seen on most other social media sites. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/11/15/more-americans-are-getting-news-on-tiktok-bucking-the-trend-seen-on-most-other-social-media-sites/
Oxford Dictionary of English (n.d.) Media Literacy. Accessed 13 November 2023 from https://www.oed.com/search/advanced/Meanings?textTermText0=media+literacy&textTermOpt0=WordPhrase
Tilleul, C. (2023). Young adults’ social network practices and the development of their media literacy competences: a quantitative study. Information, Communication & Society, 26(10), 2107–2125. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2022.2072751
