Media Literacy and Clickbait

Media Literacy Defined

Information is all around us, and we create information all the time. It's not just research articles we read for classes, but also other media forms like Instagram posts, Reddit rants, YouTube videos, texts from our friends, dank memes, and this page.

The National Association for Media Literacy Education Links to an external site. defines media literacy as “the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act using all forms of communication." Librarians and information science experts argue that we creators and users of information must understand "'how information ‘works’—not just how to find and select information as if it’s a market good to be produced and consumed, but rather how to understand the social and economic contexts that influence how information is created and circulated" (Source: Barbara Fister, The Librarian War Against QAnon Links to an external site.).

In other words, if we're media literate people, then we know how to find information using all forms of media (text, audio, video, photos, charts, etc.). In addition, we know how to think critically about the information, evaluate its credibility, and use it ethically. We can even create our own communication in a media literate way.

 

Example of Why Media Literacy is Important: Clickbait

Clickbait is a term used to describe those dramatic article headlines (titles) whose purpose is to lure in readers. We must be critical or skeptical when we see these because although the article might be entertaining, often the person who created the website makes money from advertisers every time someone clicks on their clickbait title. Take a look at the clickbait example below.

Clickbait image of man hugging a lion

Souza, Z. (n.d.). Man tries to hug a wild lion, you won’t believe what happens next! Retrieved from http://earthporm.com/man-tries-hug-wild-lion-wont-believe-happens-next/ (Links to an external site.)

How to Spot Clickbait

This helpful fact-checking guide from Santa Clara University (Links to an external site.) helps us spot clickbait more easily. The guide suggests we look for the following:

  • Headlines in all caps and/or containing excessive punctuation
  • Obviously photo-shopped images
  • Images that are irrelevant to the content of the article.

Take a look at the guide for examples and more tips on how to spot clickbait.

"How is it written?" (Links to an external site.) by Santa Clara University first-year honors English class May 2017 (Links to an external site.), SCU Fact Checking Guide (Links to an external site.), Santa Clara University (Links to an external site.) is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

 

Some content on this page adapted from Have a CCOW Links to an external site. by Anthony Tardiff Links to an external site..