Social Media and Information Literacy

Searching as Strategic Exploration. Searching for information online can be a daunting experience. In order to avoid information overload, it's imperative to develop critical analytical skills to determine which sources are credible over others. However, our interactions with stories and data online can effect how we come across information organically online. Algorithms are employed by search engines, social media platforms, and other digital programs that curate our feed based on our preferences. Data is collected based on our digital interactions with media online, therefore, every timeline, "For You" page, and discovery page looks different. Algorithms curate our feeds to promote the things they have determined that we want to see, while suppressing information they deem otherwise. Algorithms can also contribute to Echo Chambers and Filter Bubbles, which can impede users' abilities to discover information organically, and can sway opinions and narratives. Recognizing the impact algorithms play in how we interact with digital content is important to critically analyzing how digital content contributes to the formation of our opinions.  

The way information is presented to us in online spaces is intentional and curated. Algorithms determine what we want to see, hear, and read and what we don't. Thereby, reenforcing our already held opinions and ideas. 

Explore the resources below to learn more about how algorithms impact the discovery process and inform ideas and identities. 

Shadow Banning: Shadow Banning is the ability of social media apps to deprioritize certain accounts so that their posts are no longer promoted to their audiences or new followers. Owners of accounts will be posting normally, and regularly, however, followers will notice that their posts are not being seen on their feeds. Shadow Banning can be detrimental to online creators who are promoting their businesses through social media, as well as having other negative cultural impacts. 

Echo Chambers: Echo Chambers are defined, when discussing media, as, "an environment in which a person encounters only beliefs or opinions that coincide with their own, so that their existing views are reenforced and alternative ideas are not considered" (Oxford, 2022). Algorithms often contribute to the proliferation of echo chambers because of their promotion of content they determine the user wants to see that already aligns with their beliefs and identity.   

• Determine if the information being presented fulfills your information needs. 
• Understand that content on social media are constructed to convey messages and appeal to specific audiences. 
• Use different types of searching language to broaden results and seek out information from different sources to understand the full scope of the issue(s). 
• Understand how social media platforms are organized, and promote content, in order to access relevant information. 
• Understand that the content promoted on individual feeds is curated for individual interests, and may not provide adequate, or credible, information.