In the context of the information war, it is very important to choose truthful information. Media literacy is a key skill that can help with this.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been going on for more than a week now.
And when we say “invasion”, we mean not only the army and soldiers, from which the Armed Forces of Ukraine and territorial defense bravely defend us, not only DDoS attacks that our cybersecurity specialists repel, but we also include information attacks on our population in this concept. , which media literacy helps to beat off, the basic principles of which we will consider today.
So, media literacy is a set of skills that allow people to analyze and evaluate information in different types of media, genres, and forms. In general, information filtering in all its manifestations.
Scholar John Pangente has identified the following key concepts of media literacy:
- The attitude to the objects of the real world is based on media messages constructed by specialists who pursue certain goals;
- creating a media product is a business. Behind every business, there are specific people with their interests. They determine the meaning of what we watch, read, listen to;
- any media message conveys certain values directly or implicitly;
- media influence the political and economic situation, provoking social changes;
- media make us think about the events taking place in other countries.
What are the basics you need to follow to clearly understand and be aware of what information you consume?
Shape your social media feed as consciously as possible
In modern realities, anyone can create content. But, if you don't like the information that you see and receive from your friends, you don’t need to show network altruism. Just unsubscribe and don't force yourself to read what you don't like. You should not add as friends for cute photos of cats or an old acquaintance - a good judgment is needed here.
Remove unreliable sources of information
The absence of sources, stories about what the “cousin-brother” of a sister from the Far East said about this, or just outright nonsense are sufficient arguments to say goodbye to this “informant”.
Don't get distracted by things that don't matter to you
If you have never been interested in politics, fashion trends, or NFT tokens, then you don’t need to be aware of such topics. Don’t load yourself with information you don’t need, it is better to concentrate on the main thing.
Watch the quality
Imagine that you need to fill up a car with gasoline and there are two fuel options. The first is cheap, there is a gas station under the house and the car doesn’t seem to drive so badly, but the consumption is higher than usual, and refueling will soon be required. But the second one is of high quality, more expensive, but at the same time it has a minimum consumption and the engine will last longer. We think everyone understands the comparison. Choose better content - from it and saturation, and knowledge, and education. It can be educational content, an analytical article, or informative information.
Live your life
Often the information that you read in one media, they copied from the second. And, most likely, a third will write about it. We got to know each other and moved on. Do not drown in the flow of information.
Make time for reflection
Constantly being in the information flow is not a good idea. Leave yourself time to listen to the thoughts that have accumulated in your head, to conclude what you see. Don’t be afraid to miss or not understand anything, the informational detox is more important.
Media literacy is now one of the most important weapons in the fight against the aggressor, not to mention its usefulness in general. Filtering information always has an undeniable benefit and allows you to distinguish reality from fake, breaking news from the stuffing, defenders from the aggressor.
We are mastering a new tool for life, and, as before, we are looking for work at LC Work.
Everything will be Ukraine!
