Information literacy is something that all libraries strive to provide for their patrons, students, and community members. What most people don’t think about is that information literacy is something that we all do every day, whether it is watching television or getting information from social media, we consume information constantly. While we constantly consume, we often also do not think of how to accurately assess information through the lens of information literacy. Though social media has been something people have used for several years, it can be argued that within the last couple of years the ability to understand and digest information through social media has become crucial for internet users. In their paper “Investigating the Relationship Between Information Literacy and Social Media Competence Among University Students” Zhu et al discuss how social media has changed information literacy stating, “The growing use of social media, such as microblogs, social networks, bookmarking sites, community blogs, or video sharing sites, has not only changed the way people communicate, but has also triggered considerable changes in peoples’ information behavior”. It is only through adjusting the way we teach and explain information literacy that people’s ability to discern credible information via social media can be improved. They go on to explore information literacy through three stages. 1. The “germination stage” which was before the 1970’s where library skills were a type of information literacy. 2. From the 1970’s to the late 1980’s where the idea of information literacy “shifted from simply emphasizing literature retrieval…to encouraging the use of information tools” and 3. From the 1980’s to the end of the 1990’s where the “ability to criticize and evaluate information was valued” (Zhu et al, 2021). It can be argued that from the 2010’s to now, a new type of information literacy is needed, that of competent information gathering skills where credible information is emphasized. Zhu et al discuss this need stating “due to a lack of relevant legislation, social media have witnessed an increase in problematic behaviors, such as sharing misinformation, which might be disguised as ‘breaking news’ or factual information” (Zhu et al, 2021). This emphasis on credibility and misinformation is something that libraries should focus on, especially university libraries.
This presentation looks at social media and explores students behaviors towards it and information gathering through a class presentation assignment. Each student should use TikTok, Instagram Stories, Facebook Reels, or YouTube shorts to explore the idea of credible information relating to their desired topic. Through this assignment, students needed to explore social media that they use every day (mainly TikTok) and should be able to articulate whether the information presented to them is credible or not. This assignment not only allows for gathering information on how students think about information literacy without being exposed to formal information literacy training, but it also allows for talk about how we consume media and information and how we organize the information we consume constantly. This is a best practice because it approaches information literacy from a social standpoint instead of purely from an academic standpoint. It allows for better discussion of information and social media, and how we navigate the rocky road of information literacy.
References
- Zhu, S., Yang, H. H., Wu, D., & Chen, F. (2021). Investigating the relationship between information literacy and social media competence among university students. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 59(7), 1425–1449. Retrieved from https://doi-org.lib-e2.lib.ttu.edu/10.1177/0735633121997360
Jennifer Sandra Jacobs
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, USA