Social media use of prospective teachers in the post-truth era: Confirmation, trust, critical thinking tendency

Burcu Sel

doi:10.17275/per.22.49.9.2

Abstract

Critical thinking, trust and confirmation towards social media have become increasingly important in this period called the post-truth era when the reality has become indistinct, is reproduced, and the truth is undermined. The study aimed to examine the prospective teachers' confirmation / trust levels and critical thinking tendencies towards social media in terms of various variables. The research was conducted with the relational survey model. The critical thinking tendency scale and social media confirmation/trust scale were used in the data collection process. In the analysis of the data, Mann Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman Brown Rank-Order correlation coefficient were used. It was observed that prospective teachers' critical thinking tendency was at a good level, and their level of confirmation/trust towards social media was at a medium level. It was determined that critical thinking tendency levels did not differ by gender, but by the number of news sources followed on social media and the frequency of reading books. It was seen that their confirmation / trust level towards social media did not differ depending on gender or frequency of reading books, but the level of confirmation varied depending on the number of news sources followed on social media. Additionally, it was determined that there was a low level of positive relationship between the skill regarding critical thinking tendency and confirmation dimension

Highlights

As social media becomes the main source of information about socio-political issues and current events, it is necessary to be able to recognize “the truth” rather than “the reality1”, which is emotionally or instinctively assured
Confirmation/trust and critical thinking against fake news that gradually increase due to increased use of social media have become more and more important in the post-truth period
It was observed that prospective teachers' trust levels in corporate social media posts were “moderate” and their level of trust in individual social media posts was “low”

Summary

Introduction

As social media becomes the main source of information about socio-political issues and current events, it is necessary to be able to recognize “the truth” rather than “the reality1”, which is emotionally or instinctively assured. It is stated that the verification or confirmation mechanisms that have emerged as an antidote to the concept of post-truth cannot have a full effect on a society that does not have a “confirmation consciousness” (Karagöz, 2018, p.704) This situation reveals the importance of critical media literacy, especially within the framework of post-truth understanding. Considering the concepts of “critical thinking” and “confirmation / trust”, which are two important components of critical media literacy, especially in this period called "post-truth age" in which the intense impact of social media is observed, in testing whether the content encountered in social media is “real” or not by teachers, it is important to pass it through a critical filter and to use evidence and confirmation mechanisms in this direction. (1) What are their SMCT and CTT levels? (2) Do SMCT and CTT levels differ by gender? (3) Do SMCT and CTT levels differ according to the number of news sources they follow regularly on social media? (4) Do SMCT and CTT levels differ according to the frequency of reading books? (5) Is there a significant relationship between SMCT and CTT levels?

Methodology

Results

1-3 Confirmation 4-5

Discussion and Conclusion