Digital Media Literacy and Hoax Prevention among University Students in the Era of Social Communication
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37899/np-ijpwpp.v1i1.26Keywords:
Digital Media Literacy, Hoaxes, Students, Digital Social CommunicationAbstract
This study aims to analyze the role of digital media literacy in preventing hoaxes among university students in the era of digital social communication. The rapid development of social media has increased the rapid and massive exchange of information, but on the other hand, it has also increased the spread of hoaxes, misinformation, and disinformation in the digital space. As a digital-native generation, university students are a highly active group using social media, resulting in high exposure to various digital information that may not be valid. This study used a mixed methods approach with an explanatory sequential design to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between digital media literacy and students' hoax-prevention behavior. Quantitative data were obtained through a questionnaire survey of active student social media users, while qualitative data were obtained through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs). The results indicate that students have fairly good technical skills in using digital media, but their ability to evaluate the validity of information varies. High intensity use of social media such as TikTok, Instagram, X, and YouTube increases students' exposure to hoaxes, especially viral and emotional information. This study found that critical thinking skills, information verification habits, and awareness of digital ethics significantly influence hoax-prevention behavior. The higher the level of digital media literacy of students, the better their ability to recognize and prevent the spread of false information. This study emphasizes the importance of strengthening digital media literacy education in higher education to foster a culture of critical, ethical, and responsible digital communication.
References
Aceto, G., Persico, V., & Pescapé, A. (2019). A survey on information and communication technologies for industry 4.0: State-of-the-art, taxonomies, perspectives, and challenges. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, 21(4), 3467-3501.
Alexander, B., Becker, S. A., Cummins, M., & Giesinger, C. H. (2017). Digital literacy in higher education, Part II: An NMC Horizon project strategic brief (pp. 1-37). The New Media Consortium.
Aliudin, E. (2019). Transformasi Digital Majalah Hai Dalam Upaya Mempertahankan Eksistensi Brand. Widyakala Journal.
Amalia, U., Fitria, E., & Handayani, I. (2020, August). Media Edukasi Melalui Animasi Untuk Meningkatkan Critical Thinking Skill Dalam Melawan Informasi Hoaks. In Prosiding Seminar Nasional Bimbingan dan Konseling Universitas Negeri Malang (pp. 148-159).
Arisanty, M., Wiradharma, G., & Fiani, I. (2020). Optimizing Social media platforms as information disemination media. Jurnal Aspikom, 5(2), 266-279.
Arrobi, M. Z. (2020). Islamisme ala Kaum Muda Kampus: Dinamika Aktivisme Mahasiswa Islam di Universitas Gadjah Mada dan Universitas Indonesia di Era Pasca Soeharto. UGM PRESS.
Barreiro, M. P. R. (2018). The use of critical thinking skills to detect bias in written press. Revista Boletín Redipe, 7(6), 74-83.
Bastian, M., Makhortykh, M., & Dobber, T. (2019). News personalization for peace: how algorithmic recommendations can impact conflict coverage. International Journal of Conflict Management, 30(3), 309-328. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCMA-02-2019-0032
Bernard, C. E. (2020). Lonely zs: examining the relationships among time spent on social networking sites, the fear of missing out (fomo), and loneliness among undergraduate college students.
Dulkiah, M., & Setia, P. (2020). Pola Penyebaran Hoaks pada Kalangan Mahasiswa Perguruan Tinggi Islam di Kota Bandung. Jurnal SMART (Studi Masyarakat, Religi, Dan Tradisi), 6(2), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.18784/smart.v6i2.978
Falloon, G. (2020). From digital literacy to digital competence: the teacher digital competency (TDC) framework. Educational technology research and development, 68(5), 2449-2472. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-020-09767-4
Head, A. J., Fister, B., & MacMillan, M. (2020). Information Literacy in the Age of Algorithms: Student Experiences with News and Information, and the Need for Change. Project Information Literacy.
Izni, I. (2019). Kemampuan Literasi Digital Dalam Menilai Berita Hoax Di Media Daring Di Kalangan Mahasiswa Aktivis Universitas Airlangga Surabaya (Doctoral dissertation, Universitas Airlangga).
Ku, K. Y., Kong, Q., Song, Y., Deng, L., Kang, Y., & Hu, A. (2019). What predicts adolescents’ critical thinking about real-life news? The roles of social media news consumption and news media literacy. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 33, 100570.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2019.05.004
Kumar, S., & Shah, N. (2018). False information on web and social media: A survey. arXiv preprint arXiv:1804.08559. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1804.08559
Leaning, M. (2019). An approach to digital literacy through the integration of media and information literacy. Media and communication, 7(2), 4-13. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v7i2.1931
Leonardi, P. M. (2018). Social media and the development of shared cognition: The roles of network expansion, content integration, and triggered recalling. Organization Science, 29(4), 547-568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infoandorg.2017.01.004
Levy, G., & Razin, R. (2019). Echo chambers and their effects on economic and political outcomes. Annual Review of Economics, 11(1), 303-328.
Mario, P., & Daria, M. (2016). The new paradigm of participatory communication as a result of participatory culture of digital media. Media, culture and public relations, 7(2), 143-149.
Nugroho, C., Sos, S., & Kom, M. I. (2020). Cyber society: Teknologi, media baru, dan disrupsi informasi. Prenada Media.
Polizzi, G. (2020). Information literacy in the digital age: Why critical digital literacy matters for democracy.
Pratama, H. S. (2019). Masyarakat Jejaring, Media Sosial, Dan Transformasi Ruang Publik: Refleksi Terhadap Fenomena Arab Spring Dan “Teman Ahok”. Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya. DOI: 10.17510/paradigma.v9i3.241
Stoian, A. M. (2019). Education, social and media communication. Revista de Științe Politice. Revue des Sciences Politiques, (62), 125-135.
Sulianta, F. (2020). Menciptakan produk pendidikan menggunakan metode R & D: Disertai langkah demi langkah pengembangan model pembelajaran literasi digital. Feri Sulianta.
Syam, H. M., & Nurrahmi, F. (2020). I don’t know if it is fake or real news” how little indonesian university students understand social media literacy. Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 36(2), 92-105. https://doi.org/10.17576/JKMJC-2020-3602-06
Tambuscio, M., Ruffo, G., Flammini, A., & Menczer, F. (2015, May). Fact-checking effect on viral hoaxes: A model of misinformation spread in social networks. In Proceedings of the 24th international conference on World Wide Web (pp. 977-982). https://doi.org/10.1145/2740908.2742572
Tucker, J. A., Guess, A., Barberá, P., Vaccari, C., Siegel, A., Sanovich, S., ... & Nyhan, B. (2018). Social media, political polarization, and political disinformation: A review of the scientific literature. Political polarization, and political disinformation: a review of the scientific literature (March 19, 2018).
Uzuegbunam, C. E. (2020). Digital communication technologies: Concepts, practice and trends. Communication and Media Studies: Multidimensional Perspectives, 513-538.
Wardle, C., & Derakhshan, H. (2017). Information disorder: Toward an interdisciplinary framework for research and policymaking (Vol. 27, pp. 1-107). Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
Yoo, E., Rand, W., Eftekhar, M., & Rabinovich, E. (2016). Evaluating information diffusion speed and its determinants in social media networks during humanitarian crises. Journal of operations management, 45, 123-133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jom.2016.05.007
