How often are you exposed to conspiracy theories?
Sometimes you might flip through the TV channels and come across an episode of “Ancient Aliens.” Or maybe it was when a high school friend shared a questionable meme on Facebook.
How confident are you in your ability to distinguish fact from fiction?
If you’re a teenager, you’re likely exposed to conspiracy theories and a lot of other misinformation on a daily basis as you scroll through your social media feeds.
According to some people, new research The News Literacy Project also found that teens have a harder time identifying misinformation online. This situation is occurring at a time when most students have received no media literacy education and are less able to distinguish between objective and biased sources of information, the report said. The findings are based on responses from more than 1,000 teens between the ages of 13 and 18.
Kim Bowman, senior research manager at the News Literacy Project and author of the report, said: “News literacy is a tool that prepares students to be active, critical-thinking members of civic life. “This should be one of the main goals of public education.” In an email interview. “If we don’t teach young people the skills they need to evaluate information, they will be at a lifelong social and personal disadvantage. It’s just as important as the major subjects.”
conveying fact from fiction
About 80% of teens who use social media say they see content about conspiracy theories in their online feeds, and 20% see content about conspiracy theories every day.
“These include narratives such as the Earth is flat, the 2020 election was rigged or stolen, and COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous,” the News Literacy Project report said. “It is included.”
Teens don’t believe every conspiracy theory they see, but 81% of those who have seen such content online said they believe at least one.
Bowman says, “Even though they are dangerous and potentially harmful, these stories are fascinating and designed to satisfy deep psychological needs, such as the need for community and understanding.” Believing in a conspiracy theory or a conspiracy theory can become part of a person’s identity; it is not necessarily a label that an individual avoids sharing with others.
At the same time, the report also found that the bar for providing media literacy is low. Only six states have guidelines on how to teach media literacy, and only three states require media literacy in public schools.
The analysis found that less than 40% of teens surveyed reported receiving media literacy instruction in the 2023-24 school year.
trusted sources
As part of data collection for the report, teens were asked to challenge themselves to differentiate between different types of information they might encounter online. They were also challenged to identify real or fake photos and determine if the source was trustworthy.
In this study, participants were asked to identify a series of articles as advertisements, opinions, or news.
More than half of teens couldn’t recognize branded content (like a news-like article about plant-based meat on the Washington Post news app) as an ad. About the same number of people did not know that articles with the heading “commentary” were about the author’s opinion.
Although they were better at perceiving Google’s “sponsored” results as ads, about 40% of teens thought it meant those results were popular or high quality. said. Only 8% of teens classified the information correctly in all three instances.
In another exercise, teens were asked to identify which of two pieces of content about Coca-Cola’s plastic waste was more trustworthy: a Coca-Cola press release and a Reuters article. . The results were too close to be comforting as news, with just 56% of teens choosing the Reuters article as more trustworthy.
Bowman said brand recognition may have played a role in the teens’ decision to choose Coca-Cola over Reuters, with a sense that the more recognizable company was more trustworthy. That’s what it means.
“Whatever the reason, I think if news organizations engage young people on social media and build trust and awareness there, it could make a big difference on these issues in the future,” Bowman said. spoke.
fact checking
The confidence the teens had in spotting the hoax was visual.
Two-thirds of study participants said they could run a reverse Google image search to find the original source of an image. About 70% of teens were able to correctly distinguish between AI-generated images and real photos.
To test teens’ ability to spot misinformation, social media photos of melted traffic lights are ‘strong evidence that high temperatures in Texas melted traffic lights in July 2023’ I asked if it was.
Although most teens answered correctly, about a third still believed that the photo alone was strong evidence that the claim about the traffic light melting was true.
Professor Bowman said the fact that when the results were broken down by age, there was no difference in student performance, suggests that “teens of all ages can always trust their eyes when it comes to the images they see. “I wonder if they’re getting the message that it can’t be done,” he said. Visit online. ”
“It appears their radar is on when it comes to identifying images that have been manipulated, misrepresented, or outright fabricated,” Bowman continued. “Especially with the recent advancements and availability of generative AI technology, they are more likely to trust the authenticity of a photo that is actually authentic and verified than to convince them that the image is somehow false.” I think it would be more difficult to convince them.”
When it comes to sharing on social media, teens expressed a strong desire to make sure their posts contained the correct information. So, given that a small number of teens actively follow the news and take media literacy classes, how do they check their facts?
Bowman said there was side-reading among teens who said they checked news before sharing it, and compared this to “a simple internet search to investigate the source of a post.” She explained that this is the method used by professional fact-checkers.
Bowman said that given a random group of teens, they could use much less effective methods of determining the credibility of a source based on factors such as website design or URL. It was assumed that the gender is high.
“In other words, previous research shows that young people tend to rely on outdated methods and surface-level criteria to judge the trustworthiness of information sources,” Bowman explained. “If schools across the country implemented high-quality news literacy instruction, they would debunk old notions about how to judge credibility that are no longer effective in today’s information environment and instead encourage research. I am confident that I can teach proven verification techniques to young people who know the job.”
Actively obtain information
Conspiracy theories often surface among teens, but they aren’t necessarily equipped with the information to stop them.
Teenagers are divided on whether or not to trust the news. Just over half of teens said journalists do more to protect society than harm it. Nearly 70% say news organizations are biased, and 80% think news organizations are more biased than other online content creators, or about the same.
A minority of teens (only 15%) actively seek out news to stay informed.
The survey also asked teens to name news sources they trust to provide accurate and unbiased information.
CNN and Fox News received the most support, with 178 and 133 mentions, respectively. TMZ, NPR and the Associated Press matched equally with 12 mentions each.
The most trusted news outlet was local TV news, followed by TikTok.
Teens agree on at least one thing. A whopping 94% say schools should be required to provide some level of media literacy.
“Young people know better than anyone how much they have to learn before they graduate, which is why so many teenagers are adding new things to their already full meals. To say we welcome the request is a huge thing and a huge endorsement of the importance of media’ literacy education,” Bowman said.
Across the study, students who received some media literacy education performed better on the study’s test questions than other students. They were more likely to actively seek out news, trust news organizations, and have confidence in their ability to fact-check what they see online.
And, oddly enough, students who learned media literacy in school report seeing more conspiracy theories on social media. Perhaps because they have sharper media literacy skills.
“Teenagers who have at least some media literacy education, stay up to date with the news, and are highly knowledgeable.”
“People who trust news organizations are more likely to report seeing conspiracy theory posts on social media at least once a week,” the report said. “These differences may mean that teens in these subgroups are more adept at finding these types of posts, or that their social media algorithms are more likely to serve them these types of posts. It may indicate that, or both.
