Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash
Imagine browsing through your favorite social media platform and seeing a post that you can’t tell is true or fake. Now, picture millions of people making life-changing decisions based just on that post. Social media has become an essential part of life nowadays, especially for teens. But separating fact from fiction is becoming increasingly difficult with the rise of Generative AI, making any image, video, or website even harder to trust. One of the most significant challenges facing teens today is social media literacy. As social media and the internet evolve, we must take it upon ourselves to educate ourselves and others against false claims.
False information lying around on the internet can negatively influence views on important issues like voting and vaccinations, and can also affect personal things, like mental health, and overall cause more mistrust in people. In a Stanford study, the results showed that 96% of teens couldn’t decipher a source’s credibility. To top it off, I know that several of my friends and classmates get all of their news from social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. Clearly, this is a major issue in the sense that not just adults, but also teens, are falling victim to the false claims of random videos online as fact and not fiction. The inability for us as young, moldable minds to not be able to discern right from wrong is a significant issue. If we, as a society, cannot defend ourselves while generative AI is still in its developing stages, this will hurt us and future generations who heavily depend on social media to receive information.
You may still be wondering why teens, who grew up with the internet, are so susceptible to misinformation and disinformation. The answer to that is Generative AI. In recent years, Generative AI has become so advanced that it can now independently create content. For example, it can create images, videos, music, and even imitate real people’s voices. Because of how smart this software is becoming, people have started using it to their advantage to make videos and articles to mislead others online. What’s more is that other people who believe this deceptive and possibly biased information may repost it or share it for more of their friends and family to see, which makes spreading lies even simpler. We can counteract this problem by making sure everyone learns about social media literacy.
Fortunately, we can combat this. For instance, one method is to give presentations on social media literacy at local libraries and schools. We can ask high school students to volunteer and spread our message to their peers, which would be beneficial for our community, since teens are more likely to listen and learn from each other. Another approach that can be utilized is by partnering with online platforms such as Instagram to make mandatory guides on social media literacy and to label credible sources. These ideas aim to target the need for social media literacy to be widespread and easily accessible for teens and other target demographics. By using the power of peer-led presentations and collaborations with platforms, we help teens everywhere learn to discern fact from fiction.
Ultimately, social media literacy is an essential skill that teens must have to maneuver around the ever-changing internet. Especially now with the rise of generative AI, we must become more vigilant and help others learn how to protect themselves from blindly believing everything they see on the internet. Through this, we help teens and future generations make informed decisions. We can build a society that is educated, and an online world that we can safely navigate.
Be First to Comment