Media Landscapes: Civically Engaging Young Adults Through Media Literacy Education

The need for an active and engaged public that represents diverse communities, backgrounds, and beliefs has become more important now than ever before. This is evident with news headlines and propaganda that threaten the liberties of our nation and the ideals of our founding Republic. Young adults today have been bombarded on social media with headlines covering the perils of our nation such as police brutality, voter suppression, and a global pandemic. As a result, they have been compelled to take action and become civically engaged in the social media world. But without the skills to identify mis/dis-information and understand the influence of confirmation bias in the social media space, they may be unaware of how their efforts contribute to online polarization and other challenges. In this session, attendees will learn the importance of using media literacy to engage in public discourse with young adults about public issues. Attendees will gain strategies for engaging students with cyber citizenship skills, social media ethics, and civic engagement through participatory media.