With the rise of the internet, there is an ocean of information and knowledge at our fingertips, so why are media literacy skills and critical thinking at an all-time low?
Currently, younger generations are struggling with their literacy skills, especially with the media they consume. The Oxford English Dictionary defines media literacy as the ability to critically analyze any story or event presented in media to determine its accuracy and credibility.
The rise of social media allows for information to be misconstrued, manipulated or to be completely false. According to Gallup News, the U.S. teen spends 4.8 hours on average using social media. Social media consumption can be used to help people form their opinions directly or indirectly on almost every aspect of their lives.
Furthermore, people no longer want to think critically about the art/media they consume; this has caused a rise in misinterpretation of artworks, and when critiques are given, often anti-intellectual arguments are made and used as a reason to not have to think critically.
Political news on social media, which tends to be extreme, can create polarizing political environments. Through these political environments this type of news is prone to spread like wildfire and is rarely questioned. In the United States, anyone can spread false political information on social media and get thousands or even millions of views. Not only can the information be false, but the discussions surrounding the information create a place for people to harass each other.
Statista, a German online platform that specializes in data gathering and visualization, reports that 23% of Americans feel that they can recognize fake news, 67% of Americans believe that the spread of fake news on social media causes confusion, and 38% of Americans have shared fake news online. Social media should not corrupt our thoughts, but allow us to use our critical thinking to form our own opinions.
Critical thinking skills are needed to be able to discuss any form of media. It has become normalized to take information one sees and hears for face value and believes it without asking questions. This has caused false information in media to spread more often.
The Rise of Anti-Intellectualism
When audiences are critiqued for their misinterpretations, often the arguments of “let people enjoy things” and “sometimes the curtains are just blue” are used. The argument, “Sometimes the curtains are just blue!” is a reference to the act of finding literary symbolism where there is none. This has become a saying used as an excuse to not look for nuance and ambiguity in all forms of art/media and put down others for “over-analyzing” and “thinking too deeply” for wanting to critically engage with media and art.
It is possible to be critical of media and also enjoy it. To be able to look at a piece of media and decode the message, understand the influence on the viewers and their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors allows people to reflect, create, and react. By degrading the act of critical analysis and seeing it as useless, it allows anti-intellectualism to become normalized.
So What’s the Solution?
Implementing media literacy education can help improve critical thinking.
“An overwhelming majority – 84% – said they support required media literacy education in schools,” a study conducted by The Reboot Foundation states. “Moreover, 82% thought critical thinking skills were lacking in the general public, and 90% supported required critical thinking instruction at the K-12 level.” If schools begin teaching media literacy skills to students, it can help decrease the chances of spreading or misinterpreting false information.
When consuming media, commonsense.org suggests asking these questions to help make analyzing media easier:
- Who created this message?
- Which techniques are used to attract my attention?
- How might different people interpret this message?
- Which lifestyles, values, and points of view are represented or missing?
- Why is this message being sent?
An essential skill needed to survive in today’s society is being able to analyze mass communication. If we rely on taking everything at face value and stop questioning things, we allow ourselves to consume rhetoric and ideologies without challenging them.
