Media and Visual Literacy Blog

  After an eventful election cycle, filled with memes and blasts of information as well as misinformation, I can across a paper "Countering Disinformation Effectively: An Evidence-Based Policy Guide" by Jon Bateman and Dean Jackson. You can find it  here . It was an interesting read, and has some good points to share!  What can we do to fight disinformation? It seems disinformation continues to grow, and it erodes trust and can even threaten democracy. Social media can spread and amplify false narratives, and this can be almost impossible to fight. According to the paper, tackling this challenge requires strategic, evidenced-based solutions.   Here are some ideas: Revitalize Local Journalism Local journalism plays a critical role in creating informed, engaged communities. A strong, reliable local news base reduces the polarization and builds trust. It can be the frontline against disinformation! But if we think about it, with the decline of local newspapers, it has l...

Spotify Wrapped  is an annual social media campaign that summarizes users' listening habits into colorful visualizations and personalized playlists. It has been a beloved tradition since 2016. I know my own children look forward to the release every year around the beginning of December, and like to compare their results to their friends. Spotify has used traditional AI in the past to compile information for listeners. So what was different this year? It seems that Spotify decided to use Generative AI to sift through users' listening habits -- instead of traditional AI. Traditional AI is designed for specific tasks based on algorithms and pre-defined rules. Generative AI is a brand of AI that generates new content that is trained using large datasets. By studying the large datasets, Generative AI can create new and creative content. So when Spotify used Generative AI for it's Wrapped campaign this year, there was severe backlash from users. All one had to do was hop on X or...

It’s fascinating how memes have transformed political discourse, especially around elections, into something that can feel like an all-out circus. They break down complex political moments into quick, easily digestible messages—using humor, irony, and sometimes absurdity to speak volumes in a fraction of a second. For example, the recent memes about garbage trucks and squirrels have taken on lives of their own, highlighting the chaos, or what some may even see as the “junk” content, in this election cycle. Seeing these memes, I can’t help but think of the contrast to when I was younger and elections had a very different tone. The core of a meme is that it’s designed to be widely shared and instantly understood, often using humor as its main tool. But memes can do more than entertain; they can also act as symbols of broader societal issues and frustrations. Sometimes they make us laugh, but they also manage to comment on key issues in a way that feels relatable and accessible. They may ...

As I watched the Summer Olympics that were held in Paris this past summer, I found myself obsessed with the little icons that represent each sport. I would scroll through all of the sports trying to figure out what each one entailed. And I started to think about the designers who were in charge of creating all of these. What a daunting job it must be to have to break down each sport into a few shapes and lines. I guess that's the definition of design, though, isn't it? Design is supposed to simplify and make things recognizable. I know I would be intimidated to take on this task. There have been sports icons since the Tokyo Games in 1964. That's a lot of history and pressure to live up to! Here is an article from designboom that interviews the Paris 2024 Head of Design, Joachim Roncin. It's an interesting look into the depth of the design involved in the games. His responsibility was immense, as he "mapped out and created the  torches ,  medals ,  masco...