Critical thinking in the age of social media: a reading list

  • Posted on: 9 June 2020
  • By: Michelle Brightwell

Hello. My name is Michelle, and if you know me at all, you know that media, digital, and information literacy is passion of mine. I would love to teach the world how to critically consume the media they choose, and to recognize bias and unfairness in what they consume. If just a small percentage of people who use social media would take the time to vet that tweet before it’s re-tweeted, or think twice before sharing a scathing image or meme on Facebook that vilifies someone they don’t agree with, we could fight back against the spread of misinformation. This is the epitome of “love your neighbor”. It is not helpful to spread conspiracy theories or random text-posts just because it’s “interesting to think about” or “food for thought”.

What actually is research?

  • Posted on: 5 June 2020
  • By: Michelle Brightwell

One of the many pitfalls in knowledge as result of the Internet is the watering down of the term “research”.

You can look at the comments of any Facebook post regarding COVID-19, protestors, vaccines, sunscreen, and it’s littered with calls to “do your own research!”

Research has a very specific meaning, and that does not mean “here’s information that backs up what I already believe”.

Why we're prone to believe conspiracy theories

  • Posted on: 28 May 2020
  • By: Michelle Brightwell

This post is part of a series on social media and media literacy.  To see all of our media literacy related posts, please click here.

In a previous post about information overload and it’s issues, we discussed how when our brains are overloaded, it’s hard to decide what’s real and what’s not on a good day. So now, when we’ve been overwhelmed for months with new information every day, it’s easy to fall into common media traps.

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