Open AccessSocial media literacy: A conceptual framework
Author(s) -
Hyunyi Cho,
Julie Can,
Rachel Lopez,
Wenbo Li
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
new media and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.501
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1461-7315
pISSN - 1461-4448
DOI - 10.1177/14614448211068530
Subject(s) - media literacy , mass media , social media , media system dependency theory , action (physics) , set (abstract data type) , causation , media relations , sociology , extant taxon , literacy , epistemology , psychology , public relations , media studies , computer science , political science , pedagogy , world wide web , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics , evolutionary biology , law , biology , programming language
Concerns over the harmful effects of social media have directed public attention to media literacy as a potential remedy. Current conceptions of media literacy are frequently based on mass media, focusing on the analysis of common content and evaluation of the content using common values. This article initiates a new conceptual framework of social media literacy (SoMeLit). Moving away from the mass media-based assumptions of extant approaches, SoMeLit centers on the user’s self in social media that is in dynamic causation with their choices of messages and networks. The foci of analysis in SoMeLit, therefore, are one’s selections and values that influence and are influenced by the construction of one’s reality on social media; and the evolving characteristics of social media platforms that set the boundaries of one’s social media reality construction. Implications of the new components and dimensions of SoMeLit for future research, education, and action are discussed.