What is this about and what is the problem?
As the majority of young adults, I can spend a few hours daily on social media. And I know I am not the biggest consumer of these. Nowadays, that is where we get the majority of our information. Media technologies include television, radio, the internet, video games, etc. We can all agree that on these platforms it is pretty common to see health related information, especially in these times of Covid.
Media health literacy characterizes the skills needed to deal with health-related information on media technologies and deal with these with a critical attitude. E-health literacy is also often used as a synonym. The difference is that e-health literacy only deals with health information available on the internet.
Health literacy in general deals with the ability to obtain, assess ,and make informed decisions when it comes to health care.
What does that mean to be illiterate in this domain?
Being illiterate in this environment means the person does not have the ability to be critical towards the health-related information they get on media. When they access the information, they do not analyze and evaluate it, they believes and applies it.
But what are the dangers?
When I post something on Facebook about health care, I don’t know the skills the people who are going to see my post have. Do my 679 friends have the ability to analyze my Facebook posts and evaluate whether they are based on trusted sources?
Moreover, I am also able to share other users’ posts. I could already share a post from someone who has been a victim of media health literacy and increase the number of viewers. The dangers increase with the number of viewers. The cycle is hard to break, the fake news would continue to be spread. When we discover that fake news were more viral than true information, we became aware of the magnitude of the problem. The dangers on health can very serious and differ depending on the wrong information spread. The following example will speak for itself.
Let’s take an example
On April, 23 2020, Donald Trump delivered a speech about the pandemic evolution and mentioned a possible solution that could help us to combat the Covid-19. Apparently, injecting disinfectant could have helped defeat the virus. This speech was released on the TV and shared on social media. We all heard about this affirmation. Thousands or millions of people have seen and heard about this through the media technologies.
A report from the American Association of Poison Controls Center shows that the number of accidental poisonings collected increased in April, 2020 and after.
It’s a common method that people utilize when they want to kill themselves
Dr. Vin Gupta
The common method has been proposed in a speech by a president on TV. I can assume the consequences of media health illiteracy are known are highly dangerous to every from now.
Sharing fake assumptions about the Covid-19 vaccine effects has also a bad effect, since it can keep from getting the vaccine which is the only solution nowadays to tackle this pandemic and decrease the numbers of infected people.
Could media also help to create positive health outcomes?
The answer is yes. A good example is the trends that arose during the lockdown. For instance, everybody became a chef. Seeing a lot of people posting about their menu made me want to try and made me feel better because I knew I was not alone and I had to be strong. Quarantine culture was trendy, people were thus respecting the lockdown and were safe.
Solutions?
For the example given about the use of disinfectant to combat the Covid-19, giving the people the skills to evaluate the truthfulness of Trump’s speech would have prevented people from accidental poisonings. Media health literacy is the key to improving health outcomes.
Another blogpost will discuss how this can be done and what has actually been set up.
Why is it so important nowadays?
Media health literacy needs our attention. In a time where people are demanding more and more to manage their health, we need to be sure this will only lead to positive health outcomes.
If you know about this topic, as our blog helps you to do, you will pay attention while scrolling on the media technologies and that is a good start. Everyone has access to the internet which is a clear benefit to inform as many people as possible. But the dark side is that not everybody has the skills to judge the information they see and the dangers have been explained earlier.
For instance, are you taking all my words straight and trusting them or do you check my sources?
In these times of Covid, it is even more important because the numbers of fake news about this virus and the vaccines have exploded and we are all aware of the potential dangers mister Covid has for us.
Quantifying the issue
But no studies about media health literacy mentioning numbers could be found. However, discussing the different impacts it has depending on the societal group can already help us to identify the magnitude of the problem. We will discuss this in the next blogspot.
I really liked the part when you call your readers out; I did not check your every source and just trusted that the sources are conveying what you say they are…
Do you think it’s important to check the sources even when the one sharing them is someone you know and therefore “trust”?
That is a really good question, thank you for raising that point out Amanda. I would definitely recommend you to check the sources even if the post is from someone you trust because as I stated fake news are present everywhere and could have been used. A person you trust can still not have the skills to deal with fake news and therefore be the victim of media health illiteracy. Moreover, the person could have an advantage in sharing fake news. You are the only one you can trust when it comes to this domain. I hope this answer your question.
Thank you for your answer! I am also thinking about the fact that there can always be misunderstandings when it comes to context, and even if something is reported truthfully, the context the “trusted” person uses it in can warp your understanding. So I would agree with you to always check the source so you have the full understanding of what is being said and why, and whether a certain fact is taken out of context.
One example is that some studies are saying that the masks are not as effective if they are used wrong, and most people use them “wrong” -> a mislead conclusion of this would be to assume masks are not effective!
Exactly! Thank you again for your comment full of sense!
Your blog is very easy to read, both because you managed in a very effective way to make the topic interesting and because you engage a lot with your audience. I also appreciated how you made it relevant linking it to the COVID pandemic and sharing a positive side of the first lock-down.
A question I still have: you talk about the dark side of information through internet… how would you improve the situation? Do you have any solutions?
Thank you very much for your comment I appreciate! You also raised a good question that I think cannot be answer in only one comment. I would firstly suggest you to read Heidi’s post that can be really helpful regarding the potential solutions. But I can also answer your question by giving you an example. Instagram set up during the first pandemic a new option that is still in place today: when you make a post or a story that has any link to the Covid-19, the viewers of your post will be able to read trustful news via the link Instagram attached to the post. I think it is the role of the platforms to create a trustful environment even if it is extremely complicated and also include the question of freedom of speech (when it comes to the publication of fake news). I would therefore suggest these platforms to undertake the same initiatives as Instagram in other health domains (mental health for instance). I hope my answer helped you!
Hi Léa! Yes, thank you very much for your reply. Actually, it is impressive to think that a small symbol I have seen for months on my instagram page can have such a huge impact and significance with regards to the spread of news. I guess social media has radically changed the way we deal with trustworthiness, reliability, and serious concerns about everyday life… ☺️