Media and Visual Literacy Blog

We're drowning in information, but starving for understanding.  Social media has transformed how we consume news, connect with others, and perceive the world – but are we able to navigate this complex media landscape? Media literacy isn't just a new trendy term -- it's a critical skill for our society. Every single day, billions of people scroll through endless feeds -- absorbing content that can shape our opinions and beliefs. An MIT study revealed that  false news spreads six times faster than factual content.  This   highlights the urgent need for media literacy (Vosoughi). Sophisticated algorithms are designed with one primary goal: keeping us engaged, not necessarily informed. As Zuboff's research on surveillance demonstrates, social media platforms have developed intricate systems to manipulate user behavior and attention (Zuboff, 2019). It's time for media literacy to become required skills for our society. Think about it – every time you scroll through your ...

  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...