Promoting Digital Media Literacy Interventions for Adolescents: A TikTok Simulation

Overview: In this session, social work students specializing in youth mental health, who also have experience in media production and education, will lead participants in a simulated activity using TikTok to explore how to use digital literacy to promote adolescents’ development as global citizens.Proposal text: Media platforms have increasing power and persuasion as society becomes more reliant on a digitalized lifestyle. COVID-19 has exasperated this dependence. From school to telehealth to entertainment, people are increasingly reliant on technology. Screen time usage has dramatically increased in adolescents. In a national sample of adolescents surveyed in early-pandemic, average daily screen use was 7.7 h/d. Pre-pandemic, this same group had an estimated 3.8 h/d of screen time (Nagata et al., 2022). Research suggests that many adolescents may spend more time on digital devices than sleeping, interacting in person, or attending school (Prinstein et al., 2020). TikTok popularity amongst ages 15-25 surged during the pandemic, increasing 180 percent in usage from pre-pandemic (Ceci, 2022). A shift in digital interaction is occurring as adolescents not only consume media but now produce it in mass amounts (Graber & Mendoza, 2012).

Social media has the potential to both aid and harm adolescents. It offers opportunities for identity exploration and community building (Ragelienė, 2016). It also increases the risk of mental health and safety. The adolescent brain is still developing, increasing youths’ vulnerability to higher-risk-taking behaviors online. This is attributed in part to still learning how to emotionally regulate, hot and cold cognition, and the temptation of peer-pressure (Luna et al., 2013).

Social workers need to create space to teach adolescents responsible online behavior. This can be accomplished through media literacy education. Media literacy is centered on promoting critical and ethical thinking skills (Graber & Mendoza, 2012). It motivates people to question the validity of the messages they receive online and encourages them to engage responsibly (Bulger & Davison, 2018).

Social work interventions with students focus on socio-emotional learning but often do not include online social skills. As life becomes more digital, media literacy provides a platform to educate youth in the nuances of online social skills (Graber & Mendoza, 2012). Through media literacy teachings, social workers can facilitate students’ learning of critical and ethical skills to create responsible, global citizens in-person and online (Lauricella et al., 2020). This workshop provides tools that can be implemented with students as well as with the broader social work community. Media literacy offers complimentary lessons that build upon the social work principles of human relationship, dignity, trust, and social justice (“NASW,” n.d.). Providing media literacy education will aid students and social workers in their navigations of the online world. This holds the potential for a generation that can think critically and ethically.

Facilitators will provide an overview of how students’ digital media usage has increased since the pandemic, focusing on the cultural shift from youth only consuming media to now also producing it. The concept of media literacy will be introduced with specific attention on how social workers can use it as an intervention and education tool for youth through the development of critical thinking and ethical skills. This will be accomplished through a simulated activity using TikTok to explore how youth can use social media responsibly, developing as global citizens and social justice advocates.