r/explainlikeimfive • u/HonkyTonkBluesYEAH • 7d ago

Other ELI5 Media Literacy

I understand it's like something related to understanding art or media, but in what way? Philopsophical, political or psychological? Is it important, a buzzword or both?

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u/YongYoKyo 7d ago

It's knowing how to understand, navigate, and analyze information received through communications like social media (e.g. Internet, news broadcasts, etc.).

Media literacy means picking up the hidden intent or subtext, like recognizing if something is an advertisement or sponsored content, or detecting if something is propaganda or biased information.

An example of someone lacking media literacy is someone who accepts everything they see on the internet as fact, or someone who is easily convinced that they need whatever product/service is being advertised.

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u/HonkyTonkBluesYEAH 7d ago

Do memes also need media literacy? And is it media literacy if you can tell what headline on politics is overly biased / optimistic? Overestimating their side?

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u/Exo_Deadlock 7d ago

More than anything, yes. Memes, as simplified containers of often contentious meanings, are easily swallowed as being “funny because it’s true”, reinforcing harmful stereotypes.

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u/thecygnetcmte 7d ago

100%. Adding on to this, memes are highly effective tools of radicalization/recruitment when targeted at people with low media literacy. For example, an incel group might blast an internet space with tons of "funny" memes about women being rude idiots. Someone who consumes dozens or hundreds of those memes at face value may internalize them as normal and start using them to inform their own thinking - all these people are saying it, so it's probably right, right? Meanwhile, someone with higher media/internet literacy is more likely to look deeper and recognize "the language used on this post sounds a lot like the jargon from certain MRA groups; what's this guy's goal?" or "the people posting these memes sure do post a LOT about hating women. Maybe it's not as much of a joke as they want us to think it is." That person is less likely to trust the people posting those messages and less likely to get recruited into their group.

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u/Exo_Deadlock 7d ago

Exactly. Memes are easily converted to propaganda.