Social Media Literacy Research Articles

The Impact of social media on the Socialization of Left-behind Children in China

With the rapid development of the new media era, the influence of media on children becomes more and more obvious in the process of socialization. Growing up in this context, left-behind children have also become one of the main groups using social media, with the characteristics of high frequency of use and different preferences. Through reviewing previous research, this paper aims to understand the use of social media in daily life of left-behind children, analyze its impact on the socialization of left-behind children, explore the underlying reasons, and summarize the relationship between the use of social media and media literacy of left-behind children. When left-behind children have high media literacy, they do not have excessive dependence and tend to browse beneficial social media content; while when their media literacy is low, they will have a high sense of dependence on media and contact with bad social media content. Socialization process of left-behind children in China is subject to many restrictions and challenges. Social media is an important way for left-behind children to communicate with the outside world, obtain information and establish social relationships. Therefore, studying the impact of social media on the socialization of left-behind children can help future research explore how to better use social media to promote the socialization process of left-behind children, and provide a basis for formulating relevant policies and measures. Future studies should cover different regions and combine quantitative and qualitative methods to better understand the process of socialization of left-behind children.

The complexities of diagnosis: New Zealand parents’ knowledge, perceptions, and experiences of identification of their children’s language and literacy difficulties

Purpose This study reported the experiences of New Zealand caregivers of children with language and literacy difficulties in having their child’s needs identified. Method The participants were 14 mothers of children with idiopathic language and literacy difficulties, recruited through social media language and literacy difficulties support groups. Two mothers identified as Māori and 12 New Zealand European. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. A phenomenological approach using reflexive thematic analysis was used. Result These mothers had learned about language, literacy, and the education system to advocate for their child and perceived a lack of knowledge on the part of schools. Nearly all had sought a diagnosis, with understanding and access to support reported as positive consequences and stigma as a negative. Some preferred labels emphasising difference rather than disorder, consistent with traditional Māori and neurodiversity views. The mothers described their experience as a fight, due to their concerns being ignored, the need to pay for private diagnostic assessments and difficulty accessing services. They appreciated assessors who gave useful, comprehensible information and supported school liaison. Conclusion These mothers wanted improved teacher training and publicly funded diagnostic assessment services to improve access to best practice language and literacy instruction for their children.

Pendidikan Agama Islam dan literasi Media Sosial dalam Menghadapi Era Informasi Bagi Generasi Muda Indonesia

This study examines the strategic role of Islamic religious education in enhancing social media literacy among young generations in the digital age. Using a qualitative approach through library research, the study explores how Islamic education can contribute to developing critical thinking skills, ethical behavior, and responsible use of social media platforms. The research findings highlight three main roles of Islamic education: shaping character and attitudes aligned with Islamic values in social media usage, integrating learning materials on social media ethics, and fostering awareness of the impact of social media on personal development and society. Furthermore, the study identifies key strategies for implementing social media literacy in Islamic education, including curriculum integration, utilizing social media as a learning tool, and developing critical thinking skills. The research concludes that Islamic education has significant potential in preparing young generations to face the challenges of the digital era by instilling Islamic principles such as tabayyun (verification), tadabbur (contemplation), and tabarruk (seeking blessings) in their online interactions. This holistic approach is expected to contribute to forming a generation of Muslims who are literate, critical, and responsible in their use of social media.

Influence of Social Media on the Behavioral Formation of Digital Natives: a Moderation Approach

Purpose: This study examined the influence of social media on the behavioural formation of digital natives in Lagos, Nigeria, with a specific focus on the accessibility and pattern of social media usage, the online experience, and the influence of social media on the behavioural formation of digital natives. Design/Methodology/Approach: Using a stratified proportionate sample strategy, 450 social media users who grew up in the digital age across 10 local government areas in Lagos, Nigeria, provided the data for this quantitative study, where the heuristic model for the relationship was subjected to a string of tests using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique. Findings: Discovery revealed that social media has a favourable impact on the behavioural formation of digital natives, whereby digital natives’ nature moderates the structural relationship between social media and behavioural formation. Original/Value: The study novelty appears on the side of Technological Determinism Theory postulated on social media as extremely popular among Nigerian digital natives and is one of the key contributors to the deterioration of digital natives’ behavioural formation in terms of morality, secretive information accessing, online insecurity, as well as the propagation of rumor and propaganda. Practical implications: Because of the established dialectical connection between society and technology, widespread social media literacy is now possible, even among the humblest of households.

Challenges and Benefits of Social Media Influencers for Adolescent Health – A Scoping Review

Abstract Background Social media has become the primary source of entertainment, information, and news for adolescents. Influencers play a key role in this new information environment as content providers, with a large number of followers. While they can motivate and inform young people about health topics, they may also share questionable information driven by commercial interests. This scoping review aims to synthesize existing literature on the benefits and challenges influencers represent for adolescents’ health. Methods The review followed the PRISMA-ScR approach, with predetermined databases, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and a search string developed. The review produced 1699 items, and after duplicate removal, title, abstract, and full-text screening, 51 articles were included. Along the topic of adolescents’ health and social media influencers, prevalent benefits and challenges were synthesized from the 51 articles. Results Identified challenges (n = 41) revolved around regulating influencer marketing, adapting laws to social media environments, enforcing existing laws, and strengthening social media literacy among adolescents and professionals. Benefits (n = 21) included tailoring health campaigns to social media environments and target groups with influencers and using the authenticity and trustworthiness of influencers to increase range and engagement with health information. Conclusions Most challenges focus on regulation and policy efforts rather than harnessing the advantages of influencers for health campaigns on social media. Health professionals need to expand and adapt their skills and content to cater to these new information environments. Key messages • Introducing and enforcing policies to regulate influencers and to increase media literacy among adolescents and professionals pose major challenges. • Influencers are capable of providing authentic and trustworthy channels, as well as expertise, for social media health campaigns.

Social Media Literacy Among Adolescents and Young Adults: Results From a Cross-Country Validation Study

When being online, young users are often confronted with insulting, hateful, or misleading messages. To handle these dark forms of participation, it is essential to equip them with resources that support their social literacy in today’s complex online environments. In the present article, we deployed a previously established scale on self-perceived participatory-moral literacy and conducted a broad online survey study with 1,489 adolescents and young adults aged 16–22 years ( M = 19.74; SD = 1.65; 51% female) across eight different European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom). The results provided a configural identical model of participatory-moral abilities, motivation, and behavior across the considered European countries. We could confirm weak invariance, satisfactory psychometric qualities, and convergent validity of the scale across the different countries. Implications for digital literacy research are discussed.

On the Role and Form of Personal Information Disclosure in Cyberbullying Incidents

Disclosing personal information significantly increases the likelihood of incidents of cyberbullying. This highlights the significance of investigating the relationships between various stakeholders in cyberbullying incidents. Our objective is to gain insight into the roles of the stakeholders, types, and typical paths of personal information in cyberbullying incidents. To achieve this, we conducted a large-scale survey with a representative sample of internet users from the United States and Nigeria (N = 1555). Our findings indicate that cyberbullying is often fueled by personal information that becomes known, directly or through social media, to other stakeholders. Cyberbullying incidents involve more than just attackers and victims; they can involve other stakeholders as third-parties 'disclosers' Both strangers and friends typically engage in such activities. Cyberbullying incidents are twice as common in Nigeria as in the United States. Our findings have implications for design, social-media literacy programs, and policy.

FAKTOR-FAKTOR YANG MEMPENGARUHI KECENDERUNGAN PEMILIHAN KERJAYA KEUSAHAWANAN DIGITAL DALAM KALANGAN PELAJAR PENDIDIKAN TAHUN AKHIR

The selection of a digital entrepreneurship career is increasingly becoming an selection among final year students at university incluidng final year teacher education. The purpose of this research was to determine whether social media literacy and motivational factors (attitudes toward digital entrepreneurship, behavioural control, and subjective norms) had an impact on the tendency of digital entrepreneurial career choice during the COVID-19 pandemic among final year teacher education students. This study was also carried out to determine the level of the propensity for digital entrepreneurial career choice and the dominant factors influencing such propensity during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, 113 students were chosen as respondents from a total of 158 final years teacher education students from the Faculty of Management and Economics (FPE) at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI). This study used a proportional stratified random sampling method to ensure that the sample's percentage ratio was parallel to the subpopulation's percentage ratio. The influence that existed between the dependent variables and the independent variables in this study was assessed using multiple regression analysis. To answer research questions about levels and dominant factors, descriptive analysis involving mean values and standard deviations was also used. According to the study's findings, only motivational factors had a significant positive influence on the tendency of digital entrepreneurship career choice during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study's findings also show that the level of digital entrepreneurship career choice among students is medium to high, and the most powerful factor influencing this career choice tendency is motivation (subjective norm). This research is expected to help stakeholders design and implement appropriate follow-up actions to encourage prospective graduates to pursue digital entrepreneurial careers.

Training in Logistics Management and Social Media Marketing for Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises in Bekasi Regency

Background: The community service held in Cikarang district was to develop local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Cikarang District and to develop ambidextrous skills in social media literacy and logistic management. The recent disruption called the COVID-19 pandemic swallowed all business in Indonesia. Many small businesses have to survive in the post-pandemic era. Conventional transactions are no longer viable in the new 4.0 industry. Contribution: Training is necessary to improve the small and medium enterprises adopting the new industry revolution. Social media and logistics are two types of skills that are crucial for all SMEs if they want to survive with the current system. We provide the integration in understanding the logistics and social media as both production and marketing tools. Method: Based on the short survey, this workshop is very important to help local SMEs. We provide the participant with material, in-house training, and more in the workshop. We also provide a WhatsApp group for free consultation for further questions like permits, logistic analysis, and SME events. Results: Based on the feedback and the participant's responses in the workshop, They hope to have another training to develop their business into a more efficient and agile business for competition. Conclusion: Logistics and social media prowess are the two most important skills SMEs need to improve their business locally before going into a bigger pond.

From Entertainment to Empowerment: A Call for Social Media Literacy Education at an HBCU

An analysis of 640 posts from the social media platforms of 14 students at a historically Black university revealed that entertainment accounted for 68% of their social media content, “uplift” 17%, and empowerment 14%. Educators worry that students may be squandering online resources that could help improve their lives when they choose entertainment over uplift and empowerment. The study examines why entertainment trumps uplift and empowerment, and more broadly, how it may serve as a catalyst to combat disinformation.

Can we really free ourselves from stereotypes? A semiotic point of view on clichés and disability studies

Abstract In this paper, we try to build a semiotics of stereotypes through the key idea of enunciation. We investigate stereotypes of Persons with Disabilities in the context of social media networks (e.g., Facebook, Instagram) by adopting a semiotic perspective. The mainstream idea about stereotypes is that they are necessarily something negative, that must be avoided to maximize inclusivity and fairness. However, in our view, stereotypes are the background of our perception of the world, and we cannot escape from them, because when we leave behind a stereotype, it is only for adopting a new one built on a different basis. Therefore, it is crucial to understand stereotypes and the way they are expressed, since they are one of the enunciating instances that circulate in the space of the Encyclopedia. Through a semiotic point of view, we will follow how stereotypes transform, showing the way they change the modes of existence of meanings, shifting between the virtualized, the potentialized, the actualized, and the realized. Analyzing a huge corpus of social network messages built by the partners of the European project MeMe (Me & the Media: Fostering Social Media Literacy competences through Interactive Learning Settings for Adults with Disabilities), we will show how the advent of social media affected the research field of disability studies. Later, we will point out the variations of the classic stereotypes that have been addressed in the new participatory context of social media through the semiotic theory of enunciation.

Uses of Social Media for Marketing among Entrepreneur Weavers to Sustain Songket Products in the Malay Cottage Industry

Utilizing semi-structured interviews, this paper examines how songket entrepreneurs in Kuala Terengganu use social media for marketing. Results indicate varying levels of social media literacy among Malay women in rural areas. The AIDA model is proposed as a strategic framework to optimize their social media usage. The study suggests the need for targeted training to exploit digital opportunities fully and calls for further research on technology's role in sustaining traditional industries.

Social Media Literacy to Support a Conscious Use of Social Media in Adolescents and Improve Their Psychological Well-Being: A Pilot Study

Social media has a very important role in adolescents’ daily life, providing them with means for communicating, sharing, representing themselves and creating and maintaining relationships. However, social media can hide risks for the users which can undermine their mental well-being, especially amongst adolescents. The exploratory research presented in this paper aims at highlighting the relationships between the conscious use of social media by adolescents and their psychological well-being. In particular, we present a pilot study involving N = 80 adolescents (age 16–20), which was designed to analyse the constructs of mental well-being, life satisfaction and resilience in relation to the capacity of adolescents to use social media. Adolescents were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group attended a social media literacy course aimed at raising participants’ awareness of the benefits and pitfalls of social media. The Mann–Whitney U test has been used to assess statistically significant differences between the two groups with respect to the age and the constructs under investigation. However, the test reported no statistically significant values (p > 0.05). We argue that statistically significant differences could be observed by involving a larger sample size. This seems to be confirmed by the low value of the power of the a posteriori test for all the variables considered. In this sense, our pilot study paves the way for new research aimed at investigating the impact of Social Media Literacy on adolescents’ psychological well-being.

Social Media Literacy Assistance to Ponorogo Instagram Admins as Citizen Journalism Activities

Instagram administrators @ponorogo.update, @setenpo, @iloveponorogo, and @infoponorogo have played an active role in an organic movement of citizen journalists in Ponorogo. This Instagram admin has actively amplified Ponorogo locality-themed information that residents need, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instagram in Ponorogo has been accessed with a high engagement rate. Besides that, the Instagram admin acts as a curator of information and has been able to determine the behavior patterns of netizens in Ponorogo. The social media literacy assistance service uses the Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) method, which consists of laying the foundation, planning research, gathering and data analysis, and acting on findings. The CBPR method is then synthesized with a theoretical framework for digital literacy levels. The result of this service program is that the Instagram Ponorogo admin and the service team succeeded in formulating a guidebook for managing Instagram as a medium for disseminating information on Ponorogo residents. This social media literacy guide booklet has been synchronized based on social media regulations and can be used applicatively. All stages of community service are practical strategic steps so that Ponorogo residents are accustomed to receiving credible and valid information (a well-informed society) and minimizing the occurrence of misinformation, disinformation, and hoaxes.

Connected Design Learning: Aspiring Designers, Pinterest, and Social Media Literacy

Interior design practitioners continue to adopt social media technologies as part of the early stages of the inspiration design process. This prominence of social media is also interwoven in the practices of design students. However, the way interior design students perceive and use social media such as Pinterest® as a part of their design process has been underexplored. Drawing on interviews with 25 interior design students in a Council for Interior Design Accredited program, the findings from this study illustrate how students are developing their own norms and guidelines for their search strategies, evaluation of sources, and navigation of attribution on Pinterest. An understanding of interior design students’ perceptions of Pinterest is situated through a connected design learning and information literacy approach, which places values on student-driven interests, media knowledge, and technologies as opportunities to amplify design learning experiences across digital–physical environments. Although Pinterest has social networking features, the interviews revealed that interior design students do not view Pinterest as a social media platform and instead think of Pinterest as a digital tool used alongside other design software. From a connected design learning approach, this finding suggests an opportunity for educators to guide students on how to leverage some of the social features to expand their own professional design networks. With an ever-changing media ecology that provides opportunities for sharing creative work and requires adeptness at managing visibility and flows of information, insights for building more intentional learning environments around how students use Pinterest in interior design are provided.

The youth social media literacy inventory: Development and validation using item response theory in the US

ABSTRACT Social media has opened new doors of opportunities and risks for youth. Potential risks include exposure to harmful content, engagement with strangers, or unwanted consequences from irresponsible or naive use. Social media literacy has been proposed as a way to mitigate such risks and promote positive ways of social media engagement. This paper aimed to develop a comprehensive Youth Social Media Literacy Inventory (YSMLI) to objectively assess young adolescents’ (9–13 years) knowledge and skills in the context of social media use. The development process included four consecutive steps: 1) an in-depth review of the literature to identify core competencies and domains of social media literacy, 2) creation of a large item pool that assesses these core competencies within six domains (advertising, cyberbullying, privacy, news, phishing, and media balance), 3) expert review and cognitive pretesting with youth, and 4) empirical validation of the final 90-item pool using item response theory based on a sample of n = 306 youth participants in the US. The final item bank is well-fitting, reliable, and valid, offering scales with varying lengths for different purposes including domain-specific assessment and parallel testing.

The influence of social media literacy on student engagement in online learning

AbstractBackgroundRecent years have seen the proliferation of online courses that have been initiated either in accordance with the natural rhythms of educational technology growths or in force majeure situations. This adds complexity to understanding the influence of potential factors on online student engagement.ObjectivesThe present study conducted an essential inspection to explore the relationship between student social media literacy and their engagement in online learning settings.MethodologyA sample of 1015 undergraduate students participated in this study and the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS‐SEM) was chosen for evaluating the research model. In addition, to provide more information on the prioritization of strategic actions, the importance‐performance map analysis (IPMA) was also performed.ResultsIn a two‐factor construct, social media literacy was found to have a significantly positive relationship with aspects of student engagement in the online learning environment. The influence of technical competence is still undeniable, but the effect of cognitive competence on online student engagement is more significant. In addition, appearing in the fourth quadrant (low performance ‐ high importance) in all IPMA presentations, the anticipatory reflection is the construct that should be prioritized for improvement to augment student engagement in online learning.

A Pilot Study of Social Media Literacy, Behavioural Intention and Sexting Prevention Competencies

A Pilot Study of Social Media Literacy, Behavioural Intention and Sexting Prevention Competencies

Social Media Literacy to Confront Far-Right Content: Saying “No” to Neutrality

Current conceptualizations of media literacy do not explicitly state that users should be able to identify and reject hateful, manipulative far-right content. We highlight important principles of relational developmental systems metatheory that are integral to our proposed model of anti-oppressive social media literacy. We critique current theories of digital media literacy for their political neutrality or lack of active opposition and offer a value- and action-based anti-oppressive framework for social media literacy in pursuit of social justice. We propose a model of anti-oppressive social media literacy in which we outline three potential orientation outcomes: rejection, endorsement, and ambivalence. We describe the implications and potential developmental pathways of each of these orientations in response to far-right content. We also highlight multiple layers of bidirectional mutually influential individual-context relations that may influence the development of social media users’ orientation to far-right content online. In conclusion, we discuss strengths, limitations and future directions for studying our proposed theory of anti-oppressive social media literacy.

Social media literacy: Sociocultural instruction and community college students

Social media literacy: Sociocultural instruction and community college students