Media Literacy as a Solution to Challenges The Digital Community Face

As of now, Google alone, processes over 40,000 search queries every second on average which translates to over 3.5 billion searches per day and 1.2 trillion searches per year worldwide. That pales in comparison to how the US population on average spend time on the internet; about 2.81 trillion seconds per week, according to USC Annenberg study called ‘Surveying the Digital Future’. With that being said, readily-available information through internet is vast, massive, and accessible by most Americans. The rise of social media, persuasive websites, biased news, etc. makes most of society susceptible to malice but at the same time makes it great potential to be critical of what they see or hear. Considering the number of unverified information, the community is getting smarter at handling false accounts of information through media literacy.

Media Literacy at its core is making the learner understand how media is used, accessed, evaluated, interpreted, and made. Doing said tasks require critical thinking in terms of assessing sources if such were credible, biased and/or manufactured, in the goal of eventually exposing the truth in order for them to decide whether to believe the source or not. Unfortunately, most of people especially in the US are not entirely familiar with the concept of media literacy compared to other English speaking countries; but recognizing the problem is the first step in putting the community into better light. Because of the opposing views about the community’s bad reception of media or technology, researchers did their part in informing and advocating about media literacy to the public and/or push to integrate media literacy in the US education.

Compared to 1970-1980, media literacy in the US at this time is astoundingly relevant and is seeking to be effective.

Another issue to be concerned about is the tendency of undergraduate young adults to be lacking in the field of formal writing because of their frequent use of informal messaging like texting. In a study entitled, The Relationship Between “Textisms” and Formal and Informal Writing Among Young Adults, stated that the negative association between “textese” or texting language when it comes to formal writing were neglectable to college students. Formal writing fluency is required in places like work, school, businesses, and companies for professionalism and finality of the message being delivered.

In relation to media literacy, a source claimed that it should be useful in integrating standard english to the informal environment of media. Also, knowing when to use formal writing and its aspects can help young-adults sift through accounts of information more efficiently.Considering the fact that college students more formal writing is not impacted by their texting, it it safe to hypothesizethat with more media educatiuon the young adults or anyone fo that matter can dodge risks associated to media like effects on their comprehension and communication? Now, is the first the first to lines real? Or is it made to grab your attention.

Some organizations had been valiant in their efforts to ensure the safety of the public with regards to internet use in relation to media literacy. The development of the digital age are predicted to increase over time hence the need for adaptation of the community intellectually. It is critical for the community to understand the dangers not of the technology itself, but the ignorance of how technology and media works all together hence making the community more intelligent in future prospects.