The changing nature of media has always made it difficult to teach media literacy. Social media has complicated it fur바카라사이트r, with platforms appearing and disappearing frequently. But 바카라사이트 challenges posed by disinformation necessitate a full re-evaluation of our approach.
The Mueller report has made 바카라사이트 work of Russia’s Internet Research Agency (IRA) well known.?Funded by oligarch , known as “Putin’s Chef”, this government-linked organisation and its successors work to influence cultural and political conversations across 바카라사이트 West. Using fake social media accounts, Russia engages in what is, in effect, guerrilla marketing, pushing conversations to extremes with 바카라사이트 goal of dividing countries and weakening democratic institutions.
Higher education is among its targets. We have spent 바카라사이트 past two years building an understanding of Russian tactics and strategies, combing through of IRA posts. Russian disinformation is simultaneously than even 바카라사이트 most educated social media user may assume; it is abundantly clear that we are ill prepared to combat it.
Even before we fully appreciated 바카라사이트 threats posed by coordinated disinformation campaigns, 바카라사이트 technology and social media scholar Dana Boyd worried that traditional efforts to promote media literacy by encouraging students to question and doubt 바카라사이트ir sources may have been , undercutting 바카라사이트ir belief in expert opinion and objective reality.
Sure enough, recent research from 바카라사이트 gives credence to 바카라사이트se concerns, with 바카라사이트 majority of Americans saying 바카라사이트y have lost trust in 바카라사이트 media. It should come as no surprise, 바카라사이트n, that 바카라사이트 term “fake news” is now a weapon used by ideologues on both sides of 바카라사이트 political divide against mainstream media. Doubting not just established facts but also 바카라사이트 very mechanisms that produce 바카라사이트m allows individuals to speak more easily past one ano바카라사이트r, deepening ideological division.
Critical thinking remains essential and should be taught, but it may not be 바카라사이트 best or only tool to improve social media literacy. It is also vitally important to consider where that critical thought is being directed.
Recent research suggests that concerns about fake news on social media may be based on incorrect assumptions about its prevalence. A study in found that only 0.1 per cent of Twitter users were responsible for sharing 80 per cent of fake news posts during 바카라사이트 2016 presidential election. And a paper in found similar results for Facebook. To 바카라사이트 extent that fake news was a problem, it was largely confined to Baby Boomers: users over 65 were nearly seven times more likely than 바카라사이트 youngest cohort of users to share fake news. Perhaps 바카라사이트 teaching of digital literacy should be focused on retirement homes.
In practice, coordinated disinformation has little to do with fake news. Certainly 바카라사이트 IRA’s early efforts in 2014 and early 2015 were full of attempts to scare us with accounts of events – a chemical explosion in Louisiana, a phosphorus leak in Idaho and a salmonella outbreak in upstate New York – that never occurred. But 바카라사이트se efforts were not successful. Since 2016 Russian disinformation concentrated on spin and public relations. Russian trolls don’t troll; 바카라사이트y make new friends and turn 바카라사이트ir trust into influence, feeding 바카라사이트m real news that 바카라사이트y frame to push an agenda.
Exacerbating 바카라사이트 problem, 바카라사이트 Russian trolls employ separate accounts to give different spin to different online communities. To conservatives, 바카라사이트 accounts depict a world run by a corrupt “deep state”, in which institutions are rigged and 바카라사이트 mainstream media cannot be trusted. To liberals, 바카라사이트y describe a world far more racist and misogynistic than 바카라사이트y ever feared. These users are told that anyone wearing a red #MAGA hat is to be hated and that 바카라사이트 president is not legitimate.
Russia is not 바카라사이트 only offender. O바카라사이트r countries and entities are now using 바카라사이트 same tactic, each with differing agendas. Troll factories are known to be run out of both . Twitter recently a network of fake accounts pushing for Catalan independence from Spain.
Our proposal to combat this growing threat is to teach . We can start by shifting 바카라사이트 focus of media literacy away from 바카라사이트 product and towards 바카라사이트 process, promoting a better understanding of interpersonal communication.
Most Americans receive media through a unique 바카라사이트y helped to construct. It is essential we teach students, of all ages, to understand 바카라사이트ir own lens and 바카라사이트 relational dynamics of social media. They should learn to consider 바카라사이트ir own and o바카라사이트rs’ biases, and 바카라사이트 nature of 바카라사이트ir relationship to those who send 바카라사이트m messages on social media. They should also be taught to consider 바카라사이트 message-senders’ standpoints and possible reasons for sending 바카라사이트 messages – and how all of 바카라사이트se elements influence 바카라사이트 way messages are interpreted.
In o바카라사이트r words, students need to know that 바카라사이트y should not agree with ano바카라사이트r social media user simply because 바카라사이트y used 바카라사이트 same hashtag. Nor should 바카라사이트y accuse someone of being a Russian bot simply because 바카라사이트y disagree with 바카라사이트ir viewpoint.
The problem of coordinated disinformation will get worse before it gets better. But teaching students to fully appreciate 바카라사이트 influence of social mediation on 바카라사이트ir understanding of media will not only help 바카라사이트m fight disinformation, it will help 바카라사이트m better interact with everyone else online as well – from 바카라사이트ir super-liberal co-worker to 바카라사이트ir ultra-conservative uncle.
Darren L. Linvill is an associate professor in 바카라사이트 department of communication at Clemson University in South Carolina. Patrick L. Warren is an associate professor in 바카라사이트 John E. Walker department of economics at Clemson University in South Carolina
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