critical thinking in social media

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Social Media

MIT Sloan study finds thinking style impacts how people use social media

MIT Sloan Office of Communications

Feb 11, 2021

Critical thinkers share higher quality content and information than intuitive thinkers

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 11, 2021 – Social media has become a significant channel for social interactions, political communications, and marketing. However, little is known about the effect of cognitive style on how people engage with social media. A new study by MIT Sloan Research Affiliate Mohsen Mosleh , MIT Sloan School of Management Prof. David Rand , and their collaborators shows that people who engage in more analytical thinking are more discerning in their social media use, sharing news content from more reliable sources and tweeting about more substantial topics like politics.

“It’s important to understand how people interact on social media and what influences their decisions to share content and follow different accounts. Prior studies have explored the relationship between social media use and personality and demographic measures, but this is the first study to show the connection with cognitive style,” says Rand.

Mosleh, a professor at the University of Exeter Business School, explains, “In the field of cognitive science, some argue that critical thinking doesn’t have much to do with our daily life, but this study shows that it matters – critical thinkers are better able to use social media in meaningful ways, which has become an important part of modern life.”

In their study, the researchers measure Twitter-users cognitive style using the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT), which is a set of questions with intuitively compelling but incorrect answers. For example, participants might be asked” If you are running a race and you pass the person in second place, what place are you in? The answer that intuitively comes to mind for many people is “first place,” however “second place” is the correct answer.

Mosleh points out that there is disagreement in the field of cognitive science about the relative roles of intuition and reflection in people’s everyday lives. Some say humans’ capacity to reflect is underused, and that critical thinking is mostly used to justify our intuitive judgments. Others maintain that critical thinking does have a meaningful impact on beliefs and behaviors and that it increases accuracy.

Their Twitter study confirmed that critical thinking has a significant impact on how users interact on social media. People in the sample who engaged in more cognitive reflection were more discerning in their social media use. They followed more selectively, shared higher quality content from more reliable sources, and tweeted about weightier subjects, particularly politics.

The researchers also found evidence of cognitive “echo chambers,” says Rand. “More intuitive users tended to follow similar types of accounts, which were notably avoided by more analytical users. They also tended to share content related to scams and sales promotions.”

He notes, “This study sheds light on how misinformation and scams are spread on social media, suggesting that lack of thinking is an important contributor to undesirable behavior. It also highlights the type of users at risk of falling for scams.”

As for the importance of cognitive style for everyday behaviors, Rand call this an “important new piece of evidence for the consequences of analytic thinking.”

Rand and Mosleh are coauthors of “Cognitive reflection correlates with behavior on Twitter,” along with MIT Research Associate Antonio Arechar and University of Regina Assistant Professor Gordon Pennycook,which was published in Nature Communications.

About the MIT Sloan School of Management

The MIT Sloan School of Management is where smart, independent leaders come together to solve problems, create new organizations, and improve the world. Learn more at mitsloan.mit.edu .

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Does social media affect critical thinking skills?

The emergence of social media and the reliance on various platforms is increasingly impacting the way in which we interact with each other and the world as a whole. We know that our virtual network is oftentimes as important to us as our physical network and that the information we digest online is significantly influential, but is social media affecting our critical thinking skills? The answer is, yes. Although, for better or worse is the question.

To learn more about how social media is affecting our critical thinking skills and what you can do about it, continue reading.

How is social media affecting critical thinking skills?

In a nutshell, critical thinking skills refer to our ability to analyze, interpret, infer, and problem-solve. These skills typically present themselves in the order of identifying a problem, gathering the data relevant to that problem, analyzing the information we gathered, and making a decision or coming to a solution.

As you can imagine, critical thinking skills require time and mental investment. However, according to research conducted by Stanford University , social media may diminish the amount of mental capacity we spend on any one given problem or task. This is because frequent use of social media tends to interfere with daily interactions, forcing the user to try and split attention between two or more things at a time. This split attention leads to less effective concentration on each given thing, perhaps impacting critical thinking skills negatively.

In addition to the negative impacts of multi-tasking, social media tends to prey on emotion rather than reason. You can thank the algorithms behind your preferred platform for this, as these algorithms deliberately put information in front of you that is targeted to your interest and leanings in any easily digestible format. By seeing information that you already tend to agree with or favor more often than you see information that counters your beliefs, you are being denied the ability to gather all information, analyze appropriately, and come to a more well-informed conclusion.

In other words, you stop questioning. And when you stop questioning, you stop thinking critically.

Does social media affect the critical thinking skills of one group more than another?

The most susceptible to the cognitive and behavioral downfalls of social media use are youth and young adults because they are at an age when their emotional intelligence and critical thinking skills are still immature.

The young are particularly reliant on the positive feedback received through social media, which makes them less likely to be critical of information presented, as they do not want to appear like they are rocking the boat or going against their friends.

The case can be made that peer pressure and bullying are only exacerbated because of social media, which allows for a fear culture to grow in this space that makes sharing one’s opinions a risky move. After all, much of one’s social media presence is built upon being liked, and it would be unpopular to voice any divergent opinions.

Although the younger population is more susceptible to conforming to popular opinions, a 2019 Science Advances study showed that older people, those 65 years old and older, are four times more likely to spread misinformation on social media. Thus, proving that a failure to employ critical thinking skills when using social media is not isolated to the younger population. It is a problem shared by many.

Is there an upside to social media when it comes to critical thinking skills?

In contrast to some of the evidence that social media only harms critical thinking skills, social media, when used right, can be a powerful tool to strengthen one’s critical thinking skills.

With the wealth of information available and competing interests displayed on social media, these platforms can be a resource in developing the ability to scrutinize information and source additional facts to come to more well-informed decisions or more effective solutions to problems.

In order to do this, one needs to be resistant to accepting the first piece of information as the truth before having a chance to validate that information.

What can I do to strengthen my critical thinking skills on social media?

The overwhelming amount of information that is fed to us through social media platforms has made critical thinking skills that much more critical in today’s age. It may be an odd characteristic to cultivate, but skepticism will be your best friend when trying to strengthen your critical thinking skills on social media. And while you are practicing skepticism, there are a few things that you can do on social media today to help you get started:

• Look for credentials or other forms of credibility: One way in which you can tell if you are digesting a credible piece of information is to look at the source of that information. Does that person have credentials or other forms of credibility that lend to the validity of the information? If not, be skeptical, and do your own research.
• Examine the sources: If you are reading an article or blog post that you were directed to by social media, search the page for source links. If the information being presented is credible, the article or blog post will contain links to sources for that information. Better than just scanning for links to sources, you should actually click on those links to see what the sources are. Sources such as national or local newspapers, universities, and government agencies are dependable.
• Check your biases: We all have them, and taking a moment to check your biases when consuming information can go a long way in keeping your critical thinking skills sharp.

In a time when information is king and social media is a big player in spreading that information, it is essential to remain vigilant to the information we are taking in. Questioning what is presented as fact and utilizing the amazing tool that is the web to develop well-informed opinions is the key to honing your critical thinking skills on social media.

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Critical Thinking 2021: Social Media’s Impact on Mental Health

In our annual survey on the state of critical thinking, the Reboot Foundation asked people about their use of and views on social media, particularly as it related to their mental health. In the survey, our research team also asked questions about reasoning, media literacy, and critical thinking. Our goal was to take the temperature of popular opinion about social media and to gauge what, if anything, people think should be done to change their relationship with it.

Key Findings: How Social Media Impacts Mental Health

• As social media use rises due to the pandemic, people are increasingly concerned about its impact on mental health. Over 60 percent of respondents said their social media use had gone up since the onset of COVID-19 lockdowns, while around half of respondents said they spend more than two hours a day on social media.
• Despite the general acknowledgment that social media is contributing to symptoms of poor mental health, a significant percentage of people aren’t willing to stop scrolling or to put down their screens.
• When it comes to the impact of social media on political discourse, the public is ambivalent. While many found social media damaging to their political reasoning, others thought they benefited from being exposed to new ideas online.
• Support for critical thinking skills remains nearly universal, with equally strong support for the teaching of critical thinking at all levels of education.

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Digital Literacy and Inclusion pp 99–112 Cite as

Students’ Use of Social Media and Critical Thinking: The Mediating Effect of Engagement

• Asad Abbas 2 , 3 ,
• Talia Gonzalez-Cacho 4 ,
• Danica Radovanović 5 ,
• Ahsan Ali 6 &
• Guillermina Benavides Rincón 3  
• First Online: 01 October 2023

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The aim of this book chapter is to empirically explore the mediating role of students’ social media engagement and their ability to think critically. To achieve the aim of the study, we designed a Google Form online survey with questions related to (1) the use of social media, (2) engagement, and (3) critical thinking by the deployment of digital literacy skills. We collected data using convenience sampling techniques. Sixty-seven undergraduate Architecture and Civil engineering students from Tecnologico de Monterrey, Puebla Campus of Mexico volunteered to participate in the study. After data collection, we applied a mediation test by using the “medmod” module of Jamovi software. Results from the data analysis support all proposed hypotheses and also affirm that engagement is partially mediated between the use of social media and the critical thinking skills of undergraduate Architecture and Civil engineering students. Therefore, this study confirms that the use of social media-based course activities is helpful for university students to engage with other peers by deploying digital literacy skills to analyze, share, and communicate relevant information and knowledge about specific topics within the relevant course structure.

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Abbas, A., Gonzalez-Cacho, T., Radovanović, D., Ali, A., Rincón, G.B. (2024). Students’ Use of Social Media and Critical Thinking: The Mediating Effect of Engagement. In: Radovanović, D. (eds) Digital Literacy and Inclusion. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30808-6_7

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Library Hi Tech

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Article publication date: 10 August 2022

This research aims to discover the relationship between social media usage (SMU) and the critical thinking ability (CTA) of university students, and to answer the question that whether social media dependence (SMD) affects the development of CTA, and thus providing a reference for the social media access strategy of academic libraries from the perspective of media information literacy.

Design/methodology/approach

The research data were collected via 300 valid questionnaires whose respondents are students from three universities in China. Multistage stratified cluster sampling method was used to select the respondents, which guarantees statistical representativeness. A pre-test was conducted to ensure the validity of the questionnaire.

It is shown that the total score of CTA and the six sub-dimensions are significantly positively correlated with SMU, but strongly negatively correlated with SMD. Based on the mediating effect testing, it is discovered that the degree of SMD can affect the promoting relations between the usage intensity of social media (UISM) and CTA. Clearly, SMU is a double-edged sword. While it narrows the digital gap in terms of accessibility, it widens the digital gap in terms of usage.

Originality/value

The differences in SMU have a significant impact on the development of CTA of university students. This inspires us to consider the ability of “using social media in a balanced way” as an important evaluation and training direction when inquiring media literacy. As social media is becoming a critical channel in cultivating individual's thinking skills, it is highly suggested that the amount of time spent on reading fragmented information on the internet should be controlled.

• Critical thinking ability
• University students
• Social media usage
• Social media dependence
• Digital gap

Cheng, L. , Fang, G. , Zhang, X. , Lv, Y. and Liu, L. (2022), "Impact of social media use on critical thinking ability of university students", Library Hi Tech , Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-11-2021-0393

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Department of Informatics, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0001 South Africa

Marita Turpin

With the large amount of news currently being published online, the ability to evaluate the credibility of online news has become essential. While there are many studies involving fake news and tools on how to detect it, there is a limited amount of work that focuses on the use of information literacy to assist people to critically access online information and news. Critical thinking, as a form of information literacy, provides a means to critically engage with online content, for example by looking for evidence to support claims and by evaluating the plausibility of arguments. The purpose of this study is to investigate the current state of knowledge on the use of critical thinking to identify fake news. A systematic literature review (SLR) has been performed to identify previous studies on evaluating the credibility of news, and in particular to see what has been done in terms of the use of critical thinking to evaluate online news. During the SLR’s sifting process, 22 relevant studies were identified. Although some of these studies referred to information literacy, only three explicitly dealt with critical thinking as a means to identify fake news. The studies on critical thinking noted critical thinking as an essential skill for identifying fake news. The recommendation of these studies was that information literacy be included in academic institutions, specifically to encourage critical thinking.

Introduction

The information age has brought a significant increase in available sources of information; this is in line with the unparalleled increase in internet availability and connection, in addition to the accessibility of technological devices [ 1 ]. People no longer rely on television and print media alone for obtaining news, but increasingly make use of social media and news apps. The variety of information sources that we have today has contributed to the spread of alternative facts [ 1 ]. With over 1.8 billion active users per month in 2016 [ 2 ], Facebook accounted for 20% of total traffic to reliable websites and up to 50% of all the traffic to fake news sites [ 3 ]. Twitter comes second to Facebook, with over 400 million active users per month [ 2 ]. Posts on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter spread rapidly due to how they attempt to grab the readers’ attention as quickly as possible, with little substantive information provided, and thus create a breeding ground for the dissemination of fake news [ 4 ].

While social media is a convenient way of accessing news and staying connected to friends and family, it is not easy to distinguish real news from fake news on social media [ 5 ]. Social media continues to contribute to the increasing distribution of user-generated information; this includes hoaxes, false claims, fabricated news and conspiracy theories, with primary sources being social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter [ 6 ]. This means that any person who is in possession of a device, which can connect to the internet, is potentially a consumer or distributor of fake news. While social media platforms and search engines do not encourage people to believe the information being circulated, they are complicit in people’s propensity to believe the information they come across on these platforms, without determining their validity [ 6 ]. The spread of fake news can cause a multitude of damages to the subject; varying from reputational damage of an individual, to having an effect on the perceived value of a company [ 7 ].

The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of critical thinking methods to detect news stories that are untrue or otherwise help to develop a critical attitude to online news. This work was performed by means of a systematic literature review (SLR). The paper is presented as follows. The next section provides background information on fake news, its importance in the day-to-day lives of social media users and how information literacy and critical thinking can be used to identify fake news. Thereafter, the SLR research approach is discussed. Following this, the findings of the review are reported, first in terms of descriptive statistics and the in terms of a thematic analysis of the identified studies. The paper ends with the Conclusion and recommendations.

Background: Fake News, Information Literacy and Critical Thinking

This section discusses the history of fake news, the fake news that we know today and the role of information literacy can be used to help with the identification of fake news. It also provides a brief definition of critical thinking.

The History of Fake News

Although fake news has received increased attention recently, the term has been used by scholars for many years [ 4 ]. Fake news emerged from the tradition of yellow journalism of the 1890s, which can be described as a reliance on the familiar aspects of sensationalism—crime news, scandal and gossip, divorces and sex, and stress upon the reporting of disasters, sports sensationalism as well as possibly satirical news [ 5 ]. The emergence of online news in the early 2000s raised concerns, among them being that people who share similar ideologies may form “echo chambers” where they can filter out alternative ideas [ 2 ]. This emergence came about as news media transformed from one that was dominated by newspapers printed by authentic and trusted journalists to one where online news from an untrusted source is believed by many [ 5 ]. The term later grew to describe “satirical news shows”, “parody news shows” or “fake-news comedy shows” where a television show, or segment on a television show was dedicated to political satire [ 4 ]. Some of these include popular television shows such as The Daily Show (now with Trevor Noah), Saturday Night Live ’s “The Weekend Update” segment, and other similar shows such as Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert [ 4 ]. News stories in these shows were labelled “fake” not because of their content, but for parodying network news for the use of sarcasm, and using comedy as a tool to engage real public issues [ 4 ]. The term “Fake News” further became prominent during the course of the 2016 US presidential elections, as members of the opposing parties would post incorrect news headlines in order to sway the decision of voters [ 6 ].

Fake News Today

The term fake news has a more literal meaning today [ 4 ]. The Macquarie Dictionary named fake news the word of the year for 2016 [ 8 ]. In this dictionary, fake news is described it as a word that captures a fascinating evolution in the creation of deceiving content, also allowing people to believe what they see fit. There are many definitions for the phrase, however, a concise description of the term can be found in Paskin [ 4 ] who states that certain news articles originating from either social media or mainstream (online or offline) platforms, that are not factual, but are presented as such and are not satirical, are considered fake news. In some instances, editorials, reports, and exposés may be knowingly disseminating information with intent to deceive for the purposes of monetary or political benefit [ 4 ].

A distinction amongst three types of fake news can be made on a conceptual level, namely: serious fabrications, hoaxes and satire [ 3 ]. Serious fabrications are explained as news items written on false information, including celebrity gossip. Hoaxes refer to false information provided via social media, aiming to be syndicated by traditional news platforms. Lastly, satire refers to the use of humour in the news to imitate real news, but through irony and absurdity. Some examples of famous satirical news platforms in circulation in the modern day are The Onion and The Beaverton , when contrasted with real news publishers such as The New York Times [ 3 ].

Although there are many studies involving fake news and tools on how to detect it, there is a limited amount of academic work that focuses on the need to encourage information literacy so that people are able to critically access the information they have been presented, in order to make better informed decisions [ 9 ].

Stein-Smith [ 5 ] urges that information/media literacy has become a more critical skill since the appearance of the notion of fake news has become public conversation. Information literacy is no longer a nice-to-have proficiency but a requirement for interpreting news headlines and participation in public discussions. It is essential for academic institutions of higher learning to present information literacy courses that will empower students and staff members with the prerequisite tools to identify, select, understand and use trustworthy information [ 1 ]. Outside of its academic uses, information literacy is also a lifelong skill with multiple applications in everyday life [ 5 ]. The choices people make in their lives, and opinions they form need to be informed by the appropriate interpretation of correct, opportune, and significant information [ 5 ].

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking covers a broad range of skills that includes the following: verbal reasoning skills; argument analysis; thinking as hypothesis testing; dealing with likelihood and uncertainties; and decision making and problem solving skills [ 10 ]. For the purpose of this study, where we are concerned with the evaluation of the credibility of online news, the following definition will be used: critical thinking is “the ability to analyse and evaluate arguments according to their soundness and credibility, respond to arguments and reach conclusions through deduction from given information” [ 11 ]. In this study, we want to investigate how the skills mentioned by [ 11 ] can be used as part of information literacy, to better identify fake news.

The next section presents the research approach that was followed to perform the SLR.

Research Method

This section addresses the research question, the search terms that were applied to a database in relation to the research question, as well as the search criteria used on the search results. The following research question was addressed in this SLR:

• What is the role of critical thinking in identifying fake news, according to previous studies?

The research question was identified in accordance to the research topic. The intention of the research question is to determine if the identified studies in this review provide insights into the use of critical thinking to evaluate the credibility of online news and in particular to identify fake news.

Delimitations.

In the construction of this SLR, the following definitions of fake news and other related terms have been excluded, following the suggestion of [ 2 ]:

• Unintentional reporting mistakes;
• Rumours that do not originate from a particular news article;
• Conspiracy theories;
• Satire that is unlikely to be misconstrued as factual;
• False statements by politicians; and
• Reports that are slanted or misleading, but not outright false.

Search Terms.

The database tool used to extract sources to conduct the SLR was Google Scholar ( https://scholar.google.com ). The process for extracting the sources involved executing the search string on Google Scholar and the retrieval of the articles and their meta-data into a tool called Mendeley, which was used for reference management.

The search string used to retrieve the sources was defined below:

(“critical think*” OR “critically (NEAR/2) reason*” OR “critical (NEAR/2) thought*” OR “critical (NEAR/2) judge*” AND “fake news” AND (identify* OR analyse* OR find* OR describe* OR review).

To construct the search criteria, the following factors have been taken into consideration: the research topic guided the search string, as the key words were used to create the base search criteria. The second step was to construct the search string according to the search engine requirements on Google Scholar.

Selection Criteria.

The selection criteria outlined the rules applied in the SLR to identify sources, narrow down the search criteria and focus the study on a specific topic. The inclusion and exclusion criteria are outlined in Table  1 to show which filters were applied to remove irrelevant sources.

Table 1.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria for paper selection

Source Selection.

The search criteria were applied on the online database and 91 papers were retrieved. The criteria in Table  1 were used on the search results in order to narrow down the results to appropriate papers only.

PRISMA Flowchart.

The selection criteria included four stages of filtering and this is depicted in Fig.  1 . In then Identification stage, the 91 search results from Google Scholar were returned and 3 sources were derived from the sources already identified from the search results, making a total of 94 available sources. In the screening stage, no duplicates were identified. After a thorough screening of the search results, which included looking at the availability of the article (free to use), 39 in total records were available – to which 55 articles were excluded. Of the 39 articles, nine were excluded based on their titles and abstract being irrelevant to the topic in the eligibility stage. A final list of 22 articles was included as part of this SLR. As preparation for the data analysis, a data extraction table was made that classified each article according to the following: article author; article title; theme (a short summary of the article); year; country; and type of publication. The data extraction table assisted in the analysis of findings as presented in the next section.

PRISMA flowchart

Analysis of Findings

Descriptive statistics.

Due to the limited number of relevant studies, the information search did not have a specified start date. Articles were included up to 31 August 2019. The majority of the papers found were published in 2017 (8 papers) and 2018 (9 papers). This is in line with the term “fake news” being announced the word of the year in the 2016 [ 8 ].

The selected papers were classified into themes. Figure  2 is a Venn diagram that represents the overlap of articles by themes across the review. Articles that fall under the “fake news” theme had the highest number of occurrences, with 11 in total. Three articles focused mainly on “Critical Thinking”, and “Information Literacy” was the main focus of four articles. Two articles combined all three topics of critical thinking, information literacy, and fake news.

Venn diagram depicting the overlap of articles by main focus

An analysis of the number of articles published per country indicate that the US had a dominating amount of articles published on this topic, a total of 17 articles - this represents 74% of the selected articles in this review. The remaining countries where articles were published are Australia, Germany, Ireland, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Sweden - with each having one article published.

In terms of publication type, 15 of the articles were journal articles, four were reports, one was a thesis, one was a magazine article and one, a web page.

Discussion of Themes

The following emerged from a thematic analysis of the articles.

Fake News and Accountability.

With the influence that social media has on the drive of fake news [ 2 ], who then becomes responsible for the dissemination and intake of fake news by the general population? The immediate assumption is that in the digital age, social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter should be able to curate information, or do some form of fact-checking when posts are uploaded onto their platforms [ 12 ], but that leans closely to infringing on freedom of speech. While different authors agree that there need to be measures in place for the minimisation of fake news being spread [ 12 , 13 ], where that accountability lies differs between the authors. Metaxas and Mustafaraj [ 13 ] aimed to develop algorithms or plug-ins that can assist in trust and postulated that consumers should be able to identify misinformation, thus making an informed decision on whether to share that information or not. Lazer et al. [ 12 ] on the other hand, believe the onus should be on the platform owners to put restrictions on the kind of data distributed. Considering that the work by Metaxas and Mustafaraj [ 13 ] was done seven years ago, one can conclude that the use of fact-checking algorithms/plug-ins has not been successful in curbing the propulsion of fake news.

Fake News and Student Research.

There were a total of four articles that had a focus on student research in relation to fake news. Harris, Paskin and Stein-Smith [ 4 , 5 , 14 ] all agree that students do not have the ability to discern between real and fake news. A Stanford History Education Group study reveals that students are not geared up for distinguishing real from fake news [ 4 ]. Most students are able to perform a simple Google search for information; however, they are unable to identify the author of an online source, or if the information is misleading [ 14 ]. Furthermore, students are not aware of the benefits of learning information literacy in school in equipping them with the skills required to accurately identify fake news [ 5 ]. At the Metropolitan Campus of Fairleigh Dickson University, librarians have undertaken the role of providing training on information literacy skills for identifying fake news [ 5 ].

Fake News and Social Media.

A number of authors [ 6 , 15 ] are in agreement that social media, the leading source of news, is the biggest driving force for fake news. It provides substantial advantage to broadcast manipulated information. It is an open platform of unfiltered editors and open to contributions from all. According to Nielsen and Graves as well as Janetzko, [ 6 , 15 ], people are unable to identify fake news correctly. They are likely to associate fake news with low quality journalism than false information designed to mislead. Two articles, [ 15 ] and [ 6 ] discussed the role of critical thinking when interacting on social media. Social media presents information to us that has been filtered according to what we already consume, thereby making it a challenge for consumers to think critically. The study by Nielsen and Graves [ 6 ] confirm that students’ failure to verify incorrect online sources requires urgent attention as this could indicate that students are a simple target for presenting manipulated information.

Fake News That Drive Politics.

Two studies mention the effect of social and the spread of fake news, and how it may have propelled Donald Trump to win the US election in 2016 [ 2 , 16 ]. Also, [ 8 ] and [ 2 ] mention how a story on the Pope supporting Trump in his presidential campaign, was widely shared (more than a million times) on Facebook in 2016. These articles also point out how in the information age, fact-checking has become relatively easy, but people are more likely to trust their intuition on news stories they consume, rather than checking the reliability of a story. The use of paid trolls and Russian bots to populate social media feeds with misinformation in an effort to swing the US presidential election in Donald Trump’s favour, is highlighted [ 16 ]. The creation of fake news, with the use of alarmist headlines (“click bait”), generates huge traffic into the original websites, which drives up advertising revenue [ 2 ]. This means content creators are compelled to create fake news, to drive ad revenue on their websites - even though they may not be believe in the fake news themselves [ 2 ].

Information Literacy.

Information literacy is when a person has access to information, and thus can process the parts they need, and create ways in which to best use the information [ 1 ]. Teaching students the importance of information literacy skills is key, not only for identifying fake news but also for navigating life aspects that require managing and scrutinising information, as discussed by [ 1 , 17 ], and [ 9 ]. Courtney [ 17 ] highlights how journalism students, above students from other disciplines, may need to have some form of information literacy incorporated into their syllabi to increase their awareness of fake news stories, creating a narrative of being objective and reliable news creators. Courtney assessed different universities that teach journalism and media-related studies, and established that students generally lack awareness on how useful library services are in offering services related to information literacy. Courtney [ 17 ] and Rose-Wiles [ 9 ] discuss how the use of library resources should be normalised to students. With millennials and generation Z having social media as their first point of contact, Rose-Wiles [ 9 ] urges universities, colleges and other academic research institutes to promote the use of more library resources than those from the internet, to encourage students to lean on reliable sources. Overall, this may prove difficult, therefore Rose-Wiles [ 9 ] proposes that by teaching information literacy skills and critical thinking, students can use these skills to apply in any situation or information source.

Referred to as “truth decay”, people have reached a point where they no longer need to agree with facts [ 18 ]. Due to political polarisation, the general public hold the opinion of being part of an oppressed group of people, and therefore will believe a political leader who appeals to that narrative [ 18 ]. There needs to be tangible action put into driving civil engagement, to encourage people to think critically, analyse information and not believe everything they read.

Critical Thinking.

Only three of the articles had critical thinking as a main theme. Bronstein et al. [ 19 ] discuss how certain dogmatic and religious beliefs create a tendency in individuals to belief any information given, without them having a need to interrogate the information further and then deciding ion its veracity. The article further elaborates how these individuals are also more likely to engage in conspiracy theories, and tend to rationalise absurd events. Bronstein et al.’s [ 19 ] study conclude that dogmatism and religious fundamentalism highly correlate with a belief in fake news. Their study [ 19 ] suggests the use of interventions that aim to increase open-minded thinking, and also increase analytical thinking as a way to help religious, curb belief in fake news. Howlett [ 20 ] describes critical thinking as evidence-based practice, which is taking the theories of the skills and concepts of critical thinking and converting those for use in everyday applications. Jackson [ 21 ] explains how the internet purposely prides itself in being a platform for “unreviewed content”, due to the idea that people may not see said content again, therefore it needs to be attention-grabbing for this moment, and not necessarily accurate. Jackson [ 21 ] expands that social media affected critical thinking in how it changed the view on published information, what is now seen as old forms of information media. This then presents a challenge to critical thinking in that a large portion of information found on the internet is not only unreliable, it may also be false. Jackson [ 21 ] posits that one of the biggest dangers to critical thinking may be that people have a sense of perceived power for being able to find the others they seek with a simple web search. People are no longer interested in evaluation the credibility of the information they receive and share, and thus leading to the propagation of fake news [ 21 ].

Discussion of Findings

The aggregated data in this review has provided insight into how fake news is perceived, the level of attention it is receiving and the shortcomings of people when identifying fake news. Since the increase in awareness of fake news in 2016, there has been an increase in academic focus on the subject, with most of the articles published between 2017 and 2018. Fifty percent of the articles released focused on the subject of fake news, with 18% reflecting on information literacy, and only 13% on critical thinking.

The thematic discussion grouped and synthesised the articles in this review according to the main themes of fake news, information literacy and critical thinking. The Fake news and accountability discussion raised the question of who becomes accountable for the spreading of fake news between social media and the user. The articles presented a conclusion that fact-checking algorithms are not successful in reducing the dissemination of fake news. The discussion also included a focus on fake news and student research , whereby a Stanford History Education Group study revealed that students are not well educated in thinking critically and identifying real from fake news [ 4 ]. The Fake news and social media discussion provided insight on social media is the leading source of news as well as a contributor to fake news. It provides a challenge for consumers who are not able to think critically about online news, or have basic information literacy skills that can aid in identifying fake news. Fake news that drive politics highlighted fake news’ role in politics, particularly the 2016 US presidential elections and the influence it had on the voters [ 22 ].

Information literacy related publications highlighted the need for educating the public on being able to identify fake news, as well as the benefits of having information literacy as a life skill [ 1 , 9 , 17 ]. It was shown that students are often misinformed about the potential benefits of library services. The authors suggested that university libraries should become more recognised and involved as role-players in providing and assisting with information literacy skills.

The articles that focused on critical thinking pointed out two areas where a lack of critical thinking prevented readers from discerning between accurate and false information. In the one case, it was shown that people’s confidence in their ability to find information online gave made them overly confident about the accuracy of that information [ 21 ]. In the other case, it was shown that dogmatism and religious fundamentalism, which led people to believe certain fake news, were associated with a lack of critical thinking and a questioning mind-set [ 21 ].

The articles that focused on information literacy and critical thinking were in agreement on the value of promoting and teaching these skills, in particular to the university students who were often the subjects of the studies performed.

This review identified 22 articles that were synthesised and used as evidence to determine the role of critical thinking in identifying fake news. The articles were classified according to year of publication, country of publication, type of publication and theme. Based on the descriptive statistics, fake news has been a growing trend in recent years, predominantly in the US since the presidential election in 2016. The research presented in most of the articles was aimed at the assessment of students’ ability to identify fake news. The various studies were consistent in their findings of research subjects’ lack of ability to distinguish between true and fake news.

Information literacy emerged as a new theme from the studies, with Rose-Wiles [ 9 ] advising academic institutions to teach information literacy and encourage students to think critically when accessing online news. The potential role of university libraries to assist in not only teaching information literacy, but also assisting student to evaluate the credibility of online information, was highlighted. The three articles that explicitly dealt with critical thinking, all found critical thinking to be lacking among their research subjects. They further indicated how this lack of critical thinking could be linked to people’s inability to identify fake news.

This review has pointed out people’s general inability to identify fake news. It highlighted the importance of information literacy as well as critical thinking, as essential skills to evaluate the credibility of online information.

The limitations in this review include the use of students as the main participants in most of the research - this would indicate a need to shift the academic focus towards having the general public as participants. This is imperative because anyone who possesses a mobile device is potentially a contributor or distributor of fake news.

For future research, it is suggested that the value of the formal teaching of information literacy at universities be further investigated, as a means to assist students in assessing the credibility of online news. Given the very limited number of studies on the role of critical thinking to identify fake news, this is also an important area for further research.

Contributor Information

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Using social media safely

Social media helps children communicate, share, and learn. It offers opportunities to practise key 21st-century skills they will use in the future. Here's how to help young people use social media for good.

What are the benefits of social media?

Social media, when used in a responsible and age-appropriate way, can help children learn, think critically and build the skills they need for the future. The Foundation for Young Australians' New Work Order Series predicts that future jobs will focus less on routine tasks and more on working with people and solving problems. Research conducted by Reach Out found that social media provides a platform for young people to stay connected and develop better social skills.

Young people can use social media to develop skills in:

• navigating and sharing digital content
• responsible online interaction
• building an online identity
• maintaining a digital reputation.

Building digital skills

Technology has become a core part of our world. Ongoing developments in mixed reality, automation and artificial intelligence will have a major impact on what jobs look like in the future. For this reason, digital skills are becoming essential.

Using social media and the internet help your child with their learning. The internet has given us access to huge amounts of quality information, and social media is a great tool for finding and sharing that information. Social media can show young people about areas of interest and topics they're learning at school. It can also connect them with experts and communities of learners.

Learning on social media can occur when:

• reading articles
• asking questions
• replying to posts
• watching video tutorials
• talking with friends
• discussing topics with other people.

Being engaged with others

Social media allows young people to get to know and learn about new and diverse groups of people.

The Pew Research Center found teenagers used social media to meet people from different backgrounds, get diverse views and demonstrate their support for causes.

A majority of teenagers who spent time in online groups said those groups helped them meet new people, feel more accepted, work through their feelings on important issues and get through tough times in their life.

In general, social media groups can provide:

• a sense of belonging and community
• access to support from like-minded individuals
• an appreciation of different perspectives
• reduced isolation
• a monitored discussion environment.

Growing critical thinking skills

As technology has made it easier for us to share a huge range of news and information, it has also become necessary to consider online content's reliability.

It can be difficult to tell whether something is real or fake, especially when it looks like it comes from a trusted friend or an official source. You can help your child develop their critical thinking skills by giving them strategies to judge the reliability of different sources of information.

Critical thinking skills can be built by:

• discussing how the choice of words, videos and images can change how you think about information
• identifying trusted sources of information and discussing what makes something trustworthy
• teaching children to question the reliability and the source of information, both online and in other media.

Developing identity

While older people might think of their online and offline lives as being different, children and teenagers can find this separation confusing.

Young people have grown up in a world where the distinction between online and offline is increasingly blurred, and their online presence is an important part of their identity.

For young people, an online identity is:

• an extension of themselves
• a way to explore different parts of themselves
• a way to share or explore interests that are not available offline.

An online identity is not:

• a ‘fake’ identity
• a way to lie to peers and friends
• a means of exploring bad behaviours.

Safety tips for using social media

• Check your privacy settings.
• Be mindful of how much you share.
• Be wary of surveys and competitions.
• Disable location services and avoid 'checking in'.

Social media and body image

How can teenagers' experiences on social media influence their body image?

Research conducted in Australia by the Butterfly Foundation informs about the role of social media on the development of body image.

Related information

• Using social media as a teaching tool
• Education for a changing world
• The experience of digital citizenship in a secondary school curriculum
• Are they old enough?

Amid AI, filters and misinformation, experts say it's crucial for kids to learn about media literacy. Here's how.

W hen parents teach their kids to be vigilant, they're probably thinking about, say, avoiding strangers or looking out for cars when crossing the street — not deciphering whether or not that picture of the pope is real or AI (artificial intelligence), or vetting claims they read online. But modern-day technology has come with new challenges for parents who want their kids to have the skills they need to stay safe and spot questionable and information online. 

Media literacy isn’t an issue many parents feel equipped to handle, and it’s not regularly taught in U.S. schools. So why is it a big deal? Dr. Ryan Sultan, a mental health physician, clinical director of Integrative Psych , and research professor at Columbia University , says that in his practice, he talks about digital media literacy “constantly … including the idea of what is real and what’s not real.” Jolie Rinebarger , a licensed clinical social worker with Kaiser Permanente, adds that good media and social media literacy skills “can help parents and teens build resiliency and hopefully lead to more positive impacts.” And according to Rebekah Fitzsimmons , assistant teaching professor of professional communication at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College, there is another reason to teach these skills early. “We don't want to raise kids who are gullible and scammable,” she says.

What is media literacy?

Media literacy is “the ability to critically analyze and understand the content and nature of media platforms,” Sultan explains. He elaborates that this “ includes recognizing biases, evaluating the credibility of sources, understanding privacy settings and fostering responsible online behavior.” Social media literacy is a sub-set of media literacy and is an important layer to add to the conversation in a time when deep-fake videos and AI-generated content are ubiquitous. It includes “understanding the language, technology and impact of various social media platforms,” says Rinebarger .

When should parents start talking to their children about social media literacy?

These conversations should happen early. Even very young children can understand that an app that makes them look like a monster isn’t real. However, “these lessons get trickier when the kids get older and the differences get more subtle,” says Fitzsimmons. “It's easy for me to tell my 6-year-old that the puppy dog ear filter on Snapchat isn't real. It is harder to remind a teenager that the skin-smoothing filters, artful lighting and carefully chosen photo angle makes people look different on Instagram than they do in real life,” she explains.

When it comes to social media , parents should start talking to their children about social media literacy as soon as they start using the internet and accessing social media platforms , Sultan recommends. He says this will vary from family to family, but typically starts around age 8.

What are the risks of not teaching social media literacy?

According to Adam Chiara , an applied associate professor in the School of Communications at Hartford University, “information is power. If kids don't know how to discern quality information from incorrect information, they'll be missing out on opportunities and advantages, and at worst, be engaging in media that could be harmful and dangerous for them.”

Sultan explains that without media literacy skills children are susceptible to believing misinformation and “fake news.” They may also inadvertently compromise their privacy and security by inadvertently revealing where they live or go to school or disclosing information that makes it easy for someone to guess their passwords and access sensitive information.

There are social consequences as well. Children who do not have media literacy skills are more likely to engage in cyberbullying or other harmful online behaviors, Sultan says. They are also more likely to develop unhealthy relationships with social media and technology, he adds.

What are the social media literacy skills children need to learn?

Children need to learn five different skills in order to be literate in social media, Sultan says.

How to eealuate sources

Sultans says it's crucial for kids be able to understand “how to determine the credibility of a source, recognizing biases and identifying fake news.”

Fitzsimmons advises parents to instill “a healthy skepticism of the top results on Google and content posted on sources like Wikipedia.” Teaching children to check multiple sources to look for credible information is the next step, Sultan says. If a child comes across questionable material, a parent can help the child find other credible sources that cover the same topic to help their child evaluate what they find. Parents can show children that questionable images can be checked using a reverse image search to see if they have been altered.

Sultan adds that parents should teach children that “if you're still unsure about the content, it's better to err on the side of caution and … not to share or engage with the content until more information is available.”

Privacy and security

Second, children need to be literate in online privacy and security. This means “knowing how to protect personal information online, understanding privacy settings and being aware of potential dangers,” Sultan says. Fitzsimmons notes that she sees “grown adults who still fall for the online memes that ask people to post the answers to common security questions on their Facebook page.” Teaching children when it is safe to share photos publicly and “when it is appropriate to put their home address or phone number into a form is very important,” Fitzsimmons adds.

Sultan also recommends showing children phishing emails and texts to help them learn how to identify them on their own.

Digital etiquette

According to Sultan, digital etiquette involves “practicing responsible online behavior, such as not engaging in cyberbullying or sharing inappropriate content.”

Rinebarger says that encouraging perspective-taking by asking children to put themselves in someone else’s shoes can help them develop appropriate digital etiquette skills. Talking about the real-world consequences of poor digital etiquette can be helpful, too. Sharing embarrassing or inappropriate photos can lead to upset peers, discipline at school or open a child up to ridicule.

Critical thinking skills

Sultan says that “developing the ability to question, analyze and interpret the information they come across online” is a key part of being media literate. Fitzsimmons says that this goes beyond teaching children whether or not something is true. For example, if a child sees a video about a toy mentioning where it is sold and the price, that information is likely accurate. However, “it's also worthwhile to help them understand that the YouTuber is likely getting paid to try to sell that toy to their followers and so might be exaggerating how great the toy is,” Fitzsimmons says. One way to do this is by asking your child, “Do you think that influencer on social media got paid to make that post or not?” suggests Chiara.

When a child spots information they aren’t sure is credible, asking a parent for help and making a determination together can be a great teaching moment, Sultan says. Rinebarger tells parents to encourage children to ask questions suggested by Common Sense Media , including “Who made this? Who is the target audience? Does someone profit if you click on it? Who paid for this content? Who might benefit or be harmed by this message? What important information is left out of the message? Is this credible? Why or why not?”

Emotional intelligence skills

Finally, children must learn emotional intelligence skills and apply them to social media and online behavior. “Recognizing and managing emotions evoked by social media content, as well as empathy and respect for others' feelings” is important, Sultan says. Fitzsimmons says that parents should help children recognize that social media is not an accurate representation of anyone’s life. She believes children need to be taught that “what we put on social media is a self-selected view of what is happening in our lives” and that ”just because [people] aren't posting the moments when they are sad, discouraged or disappointed doesn't mean it isn't happening.”

How can parents reinforce the message?

Teaching media literacy isn’t something parents can teach by sitting their children down and having “the talk.” Instead, Chiara advises parents to raise the issue “whenever the opportunity arises” by looking for “organic moments” to ask their kids questions that make them think critically.

“Practice and build consistent habits," he says. Parents will know that their children have made progress by observing how they react to the media they consume. “When there's a questionable image, the instinct should be to do a Google reverse image search to see if the picture has been altered," he adds. "If they read a questionable story, the reflex should be to search if authoritative news sites or trusted organizations are reporting the same thing." Rinebarger advises parents to monitor their children’s online activity and gradually allow more independence when they see their teen “demonstrate trust, maturity and good media literacy skills.”

All of this might seem like a lot of work, but it’s well worth the effort. “While technology and media change, the ability to think critically transcends mediums," Chiara says. "By helping to teach your kids this vital skill, you're setting them up for a lifetime of knowledge, no matter how the information ecosystem evolves."

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Dear Amy : I need a gut check.

Stella is great. She is gorgeous and loving and very nice. Everyone loves her. I do, too.

The problem I’m having is that she is extremely gullible. She believes whatever conspiracy nonsense has most recently floated through her social media feed. Most of this misinformation has to do with health-related issues, and because she follows and comments on it, she is fed more of it.

Her latest bit is that she believes that cellphones cause brain cancer.

She can believe whatever she wants, but now this is starting to interfere with my own life because she is trying to influence me.

I’m tired of this and thinking of breaking up with her, but this seems like a trivial reason to break up with someone who is so great in every other respect.

Can you weigh in?

Dear Bored : What a person thinks – and how a person thinks – is not a trivial matter. According to you, your girlfriend is also trying to control you.

Do you want to go through life having to defend your own rational choices?

Do you want to possibly have a family with someone whose views about health and wellness are so radically different from your own?

I sincerely doubt it.

Dear Amy : How should I react to some of the baffling requests for gifts and money when invited to wedding showers, weddings and baby showers?

I just received an invitation for my niece’s baby shower (her mom is my sister).

Request No. 1 was for a book instead of a card. OK, fine, but she is asking people to give this along with a gift.

She then said guests would be entered in a raffle if they would bring a package of diapers. This is in addition to the gift and the book.

She then said not to wrap the gift, and to have the gift sent directly to their home, so she could visit with her guests instead of opening these gifts in front of them (not, of course, because opening gifts and acknowledging the people giving them is tedious or schlepping the gifts home is annoying).

At a baby shower for a friend’s daughter, I felt I’d broken the rules when I gave a gift that was not on the registry. This was in addition to giving a wedding shower gift and a wedding gift to someone I barely know.

Am I just overly sensitive because I got married at the courthouse and don’t have kids?

Can I decline some of these events and send a not-so-extravagant gift?

Do I have to suck it up, even though I think this trend continues to bring out money grubbing expectations that have very little to do with connecting with others?

Dear Petty?: Remember this: Anyone can ask for anything. It’s a free country!

But receiving a request does not obligate you to do anything about it, except to politely RSVP to an invitation.

Back in the Stone Age when I was an expectant mother, baby showers were held in someone’s living room; gifts were opened in front of the guests and a parade of tiny onesies were held up for everyone to appreciate. The guests were thanked and acknowledged at the time and – if the expectant mother was savvy and polite – a note would be sent to each of the guests afterward.

My insight into modern baby showers comes from a few I’ve attended more recently which are held in banquet halls and attended by dozens of women. Unwrapped gifts are placed on a table and guests pick up their pre-printed “thank you” note on the way out of the venue.

(I do like the trend toward not wrapping gifts at these huge events, due to the waste.)

Registries can be extremely helpful (they tell you what the recipient wants or needs), but you are not obligated to buy a gift off of a registry.

Dear Amy: “Tricked in Illinois” believed her mother was manipulating her by asking for a ride to church.

My late mother wanted a ride to church on Christmas Eve, and I was too busy and selfish to notice.

He understood! I will always regret that day.

Dear Wanda : “Tricked in Illinois” described a history of manipulation, but I hope she will make her choice based on your perspective.

You can email Amy Dickinson at [email protected] or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.

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