Hi Joyce,
Social media literacy is essential when social media is such a prominent part of our lives and human connections. You mention the challenge that there is misinformation on these sites; this is something I think about often. To delve deeper into your recommendation of developing social media literacy guides, perhaps this could include and auxiliary document that informs people of the mis/disinformation threats that exist and help them identify how to spot these threats.
Best,
Lindsay
Social media literacy programs are such a great idea that I never even considered them until reading through your inspiration report. Given the potential damage social media can cause, offering workshops or creating LibGuides on proper social media navigation would be an excellent way for users to stay safe. Unfortunately, social media companies seem not to care about how algorithms can negatively affect the usage experience. On YouTube Shorts, for example, if you accidentally click on a video covering a subject matter that you do not care about and immediately click away, the algorithm will continue to recommend videos on that subject matter. Given the number of people using social media sites, a program covering social media usage is essential for libraries.
3 Comments
August 4, 2025 at 3:25 am
This is a great topic! I’d love to do some educational programming on the subject with my patrons.
August 4, 2025 at 2:55 pm
Hi Joyce,
Social media literacy is essential when social media is such a prominent part of our lives and human connections. You mention the challenge that there is misinformation on these sites; this is something I think about often. To delve deeper into your recommendation of developing social media literacy guides, perhaps this could include and auxiliary document that informs people of the mis/disinformation threats that exist and help them identify how to spot these threats.
Best,
Lindsay
August 5, 2025 at 1:47 am
Hello Joyce!
Social media literacy programs are such a great idea that I never even considered them until reading through your inspiration report. Given the potential damage social media can cause, offering workshops or creating LibGuides on proper social media navigation would be an excellent way for users to stay safe. Unfortunately, social media companies seem not to care about how algorithms can negatively affect the usage experience. On YouTube Shorts, for example, if you accidentally click on a video covering a subject matter that you do not care about and immediately click away, the algorithm will continue to recommend videos on that subject matter. Given the number of people using social media sites, a program covering social media usage is essential for libraries.