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SocialScape
DESCRIPTION:
My Brief
SocialScape is an organisation new to New Zealand aimed at raising awareness of online misinformation which is being spread at a rampant pace. My target audience is youth aged 13+. Children at this age are being exposed to social media and its dangers at an alarming rate. Nearly 95% of children aged 13 – 17 use social media apps. So it is important to educate and inform them about such dangers, especially with the rise of AI and how it will shape their future. SocialScape provides the perfect opportunity to inform and combat misinformation equipping students around New Zealand with the tools and techniques to spot and identify misinformation, increasing their media literacy and critical thinking skills. This is important as they are on this pivotal pathway of adolescence.
Purpose of my work
Misinformation is false or misleading information that is spread. It can be found in many different forms such as fake news, rumours, altered or fake images and often spreads rapidly through social media, word of mouth and other forms of media. Unlike disinformation where the intent is to purposely mislead others, misinformation can be shared by others who think they are doing good by spreading what they believe to be true and want to inform others of what they believe to be true. In order to counter misinformation we must first have a basic understanding of media literacy. Unfortunately Media Literacy is on the decline in New Zealand and abroad. This decline is also side by side the issue that by the age of 15 two in five New Zealand Children are failing or only just meeting literacy standards. If our children can’t even read or write how can they have the skills necessary to comprehend and wade through the piles of information online to figure out what is real?
