What’s New & Noteworthy at Media Power Youth
Teens React: Social Media Misinformation
The media landscape of today’s world is constantly changing, and it can be challenging to keep up with it all. Social media content spreads quickly through peer-to-peer sharing and reposting, which means inaccurate information may not be caught until after it goes viral and reaches a large audience.
Some social media platforms are currently changing the way they moderate posts. For example, Meta has announced that they are canceling their contracts with third-party fact-checking services, and switching to a new “Community Notes” feature where users are responsible for assessing the information they see for truthfulness and flagging inaccuracies.
We discussed these changes with our Youth Advisory Board (YAB), a group of high school student leaders who advise us on media trends and provide feedback on our programs and resources. They were disappointed by the decision and discussed fact-checking as a way to contextualize posts while keeping information available and accessible. The YAB mentioned that although the third-party fact-checking services aren’t perfect and they have observed situations where false content still spread online, they believe their use is beneficial. Their experience was that fact-checking services did reduce the spread by a significant amount and they were helpful to users while they scrolled, formed opinions, and decided which posts to share. They also think fact-checking is very different from censorship, which they view as the suppression of information and the act of concealing or withholding facts and ideas.
Our YAB discussed how social media users now hold more responsibility to limit and address inaccuracies, which is a lot to bear as a 13-year-old (the minimum age required to create many social media accounts). Teens are still learning how to identify reliable and credible sources and conduct research on their own. Passing the burden of assessing content for truthfulness to users seems unbalanced, especially when the platforms themselves have so many resources and intelligence at their disposal.
Social media platforms all have algorithms that determine what users see and don’t see based on their interactions. Platforms often amplify content through their algorithms and profit off of their users’ engagement with it. According to a recent report from Common Sense Media, “About six in 10 teens express doubt that tech companies will prioritize their mental health and well-being over profits…”
From a marketing perspective, FTL Content Co-Founder Abree Knight said, “Users are beginning to reevaluate their relationships with social media. They are starting to think more critically about the platforms they use and whether or not they trust that the developers of their technologies are acting responsibly and safeguarding user interests and well-being.”
By adopting more lenient policies around post moderation, our YAB believes that social media platforms may foster a more negative online experience. They worry that some users may take advantage of the changes and purposely misstate facts or publish posts that are deliberately intended to mislead others. The YAB said, “There’s likely going to be an influx of not just misinformation, but disinformation as well, and that can have a lot of detrimental effects on our society.”
From a safety standpoint, group think isn’t always the best option, especially when it comes to children. Humans are inherently social creatures and we look to others for guidance and validation to create a sense of belonging. This is the same in digital communities. Due to the algorithm promoting content to users based on their previous interactions, the audience of our posts are generally like-minded individuals who will support them, and not those who will disagree.
With a “Community Notes” feature being adopted by many social media apps, contributors will be able to leave notes on any post for other users to review and rate. If enough contributors rate a note as helpful, then it will be shown publicly on the post. These notes will require the contribution of insight from a wide range of perspectives, which may assist with eliminating biases. However, some of the content discussed online is complex and requires prior knowledge to assess its validity. With this feature, expertise in a certain subject area isn’t necessarily part of the assessment. People are also often influenced by the majority, and may end up adopting the perspectives with more active support, whether the information is true or not. This has the potential to foster herd mentality and increase the spread of misleading or incorrect information online.
What responsibilities should we, as a society, be holding social media companies accountable for? Youth are urging companies to create and maintain a transparent and safe online environment for all users. This could include giving users more direct control over the information that social media companies collect about them. It could also include making it easier for users to identify and access verified sources and accounts, and giving users an option to reset their own algorithms.
Digital literacy education is now even more important, so we can understand how to identify misinformation and make safe and healthy online decisions that align with our values and support our well-being.
For tips on how to counter misinformation, check out these recommendations from the American Psychological Association, or reach out to Media Power Youth to bring one of our programs to your community.