Information Literacy in the Age of Social Media and Generation Z

By Richard Beaudry

This article outlines a presentation, one of several that are part of the R. E. Mountain Secondary School (REMSS) Library Learning Commons Literacy Focus, a collaboration between classroom teachers and the teacher-librarian at this school in Langley, BC. The library learning commons literacy focus for all grades are based on skills that graduating students at REMSS will need as life-long learners.

Creative presentation skills
Critical literacy
Ethics of information use
Information Literacy
Technological Competencies
Transition Literacy

In grade 10, two literacies that are focused on are Critical Literacy and Information Literacy in two presentations:

Students’ Understanding of Critical Literacy and Fake News.
Internet Safety for Students.

This article deals specifically with the second presentation and is based on the work of the Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA), various provincial teacher-librarian associations, and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

Online Privacy – Online Reputation and the Right to be Forgotten.

My first question to a group of students is a simple one: “what do you want your great-grandchildren to know about you?”. It always elicits quizzical looks or laughs from the students but my question, while not having anyone give me an immediate answer, does intrigue some students. We start off by doing the math. When we look up the answer on the website genealogytoday.com, they post that per century there are, on average, three to four generations. That would mean that their great-grandchildren would be living around a century from now.

I explain to the students that as an information specialist I have been researching my family history for decades and I have found information on multiple generations from my past but, most of the information relates to official documents (birth, marriage and death certificates) and Canadian Census information. The first pictures of my ancestors that I have, come from one set of my great-grandparents on my father’s side and there are only five or six pictures dating from the 1890s. When I show these pictures, they are perceived by the students as being of poor quality. As for myself, I do have a few black and white pictures as a child, a few more coloured pictures from my time in school and growing up. As a young adult, I have some pictures of my life with family and friends, a few 8 mm films and a beta video of my wedding. The students smile when I tell them there are precious few pictures of me until I graduated university.

My second question to the class is asking them how many pictures they have of their lives up to Grade 10, and their answers go from hundreds to a few thousand. I then ask the students the same question about their great-grandchildren and this time, there is an uncomfortable silence but a few students state that they may have to revisit some of the pictures that are posted of them online.

This presentation involves data posting and data policy for teenagers. Students talk about Generation Z (Students born after 1998) and technology use. They discuss the information they post online, bouncing, highlighting, shading and how they can affect one’s online reputation. Students discuss cyberbullying and its possible legal consequences. They also discuss how to remove their digital footprint if needed.

A secondary issue that is addressed is Algorithmic Literacy and how students seek out, consume and act on information. Understanding information access and behaviour can help students become more resistant to the spread of digital falsehoods and avoid common pitfalls.

Until the Internet came along, most teenagers could take one thing for granted: their embarrassing behaviour would eventually be forgotten. It could be a bad hairdo or it might be getting drunk at a party, but in an analog era, even if these social faux-pas were documented in a photograph, the likelihood of its being reproduced and widely circulated for years was minimal. The same held true for any stupid or offensive remarks. Once you graduated and went off to college or university, there was no reason to assume that any embarrassing moments from high school would ever resurface.

Digital postings can have consequences for teenagers because the Internet never forgets.

Some examples that I use in the presentation:

Zoom Bombing

A 15-year-old is calling for parents and schools to do more to stamp out hatred after she and her friends were subjected to racial slurs during a cyberbullying incident. The teenage girl was on the House party video chat app with friends when several unknown boys joined the call and started yelling the N-word. They also told her to die by suicide and ridiculed her for including pronouns in her bio. The boys involved did not realize that their online taunts were being recorded and then turned over to the police. The boys involved were 13-year-olds from Coquitlam and the RCMP contacted their parents. “It is our understanding that each of the young people … were not previously known to police — were subject to consequences administered by their parents.”

Online Racism

A young man of mixed-race (Caucasian father and African-American mother) in a high school in Kentucky was regularly subjected to harassment. He had brought the issue up to teachers and administrators but his complaints had gone nowhere. He was in a history class late last year when he received a video that had been created by a white classmate. The student who sent it is looking into the camera and uttered a racial slur. He kept the video. The person who sent him the video was the varsity cheer captain of her high school who dreamed of attending the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, whose team was the reigning NAACP champion. She had good marks and was good at cheerleading. She was accepted into the University of Kentucky and everyone in the school heard about it. The student whom she had harassed then released the video to social media. Within hours, the video had been shared to TikTok, Snapchat and Twitter, and furious calls mounted for the University of Kentucky to revoke its admission offer. The consequences were swift. Over the next two days, the cheerleader was removed from the university’s cheer team. She then withdrew from the school under pressure from admission officials, who told her that they had received hundreds of emails and phone calls from outraged alumni, students and the public. So rather than completing her first year at university, she is at home with her parents and wondering what to do with the rest of her life.

In 2017, Harvard University rescinded admission offers to 10 students after discovering that they had shared offensive memes in a private Facebook chat. Students sent each other memes and other images mocking sexual assault, the Holocaust, and the deaths of children, according to screenshots obtained by The Harvard Crimson newspaper. After discovering the existence and contents of the chat, Harvard administrators revoked the admission offers to the students.

In these racism examples, teenagers posted online and their digital data remained there until they moved on from public education to university, and it has continued to cause problems for them as young adults.

My Online Reputation

One’s reputation in the digital age can easily be altered because the information that students post can be manipulated, mined and interpreted differently by others.
It is important for students to realize that there is no real ‘privacy’ online. Everything posted online by a student is potentially viewable and shareable by millions, and it could surface months or years after posting, in a variety of contexts, intended or not. Students are always surprised when told that the incognito browsing in Google and private browsing in Safari still accumulate data on where the students go. It only prevents the next person who uses the browser from seeing their online history.
A student’s reputation is a form of judgment of their character, appearance, and activities – any attribute that can subjected to opinion. Their ability to manage their reputation depends on their ability to control the access to their personal information and the context in which it can accessed and used.
Offline, students have more opportunities to influence how others perceive them in a variety of ways, such as through their behaviour, their appearance, their accomplishments, and their communication skills.
The development of a reputation online is more complicated because opinions are formed on information people read about others, or images they see, often without the benefit of personal contact and not necessarily in the same context in which it was intended when posted.
The reality is that a student’s information, once posted online, gains characteristics that can affect their reputations.

The Privacy Commissioner of Canada compares one’s online reputation to a House of Mirrors.

“A house of mirrors is a complex of imagery, with bouncing, highlighting, and shading of images that produce a surprising experience. An individual sees an image of him or herself out of whack with their ordinary sense of self.”

Bouncing and Shading

Bouncing refers to information that has been posted for one purpose and subsequently is used for another.

An example of bouncing would be the act of scraping a photo from a social media site and selling it to an advertising agency, as happened to an American family whose personal photo ended up on a billboard advertising a Czech grocery store.
In another, particularly egregious, example, a Swiss bio-medical firm used a photo of a Canadian child to advertise genetic tests for Down’s syndrome. The photo was taken without permission from her mother’s blog.

Shading. With social media apps there has been the emergence of a subculture of humiliation where people are belittled for “fun” in popular media. Incidents of online shaming or cruelty can garner millions of views (e.g. @DarwinAwards). Since search engine algorithms typically return the most popular information regardless of its content, viral content can therefore be inadvertently promoted over, and often at the expense of, more pertinent and representative information about the individual.

The Rule of Three for Posting Online

Online information is posted in a digital format and can be challenging to remove.
Online information can be replicated and made visible to an unintended audience.
Most online information can be accessed through a search function. It only requires asking the right questions.

Important Do’s and Don’ts for Online Use

Don’t give out your personal information when online unless it is for a specific reason. Job applications are a good example of a time where providing personal information would be necessary.
Do keep passwords safe. Don’t tell others (including your friends).
Don’t post damaging comments on other people’s social media profiles, websites, or blog posts
Do block people who use inappropriate language or engage in any type of harassment.
Don’t spread rumours or distribute unflattering photos of another student online
Don’t set up fake profiles in order to harm another person
Don’t hack into another person’s email or social media accounts to cause harm through sending damaging messages

Remember:

There is no privacy on the Internet. Don’t share anything that is not okay for everyone in the world to see (or your great-grandchildren)
Keep any damaging or hurtful messages received and share them with your parents or an adult that can assist you (administrator, counsellor, teacher)

How Online Reputations Can be Affected

Once an online reputation has been affected by negative content, it is difficult to rehabilitate. The permanence of online information means that time does not erase past misdeeds and poor decisions. Following the 2011 Stanley Cup riots in Vancouver (search Stanley cup, riot, Vancouver 2011 – images), law enforcement asked the public to provide photos and videos, which had posted online and solicited the public’s help in identifying suspects. The individuals identified as rioters may not have been charged or found guilty at all, and those who were actually convicted will continue to be associated with this event long after they have repaid their debt to society, potentially affecting many aspects of their lives, including future employability. Several university students in the Lower Mainland withdrew from their respective institutions after being identified in the posted pictures.

BC Teenagers Online

Teens are particularly vulnerable when it comes to their online reputation.
Not only are they going online at a young age, their parents’ probably uploaded photos of them and added amusing anecdotes from their earliest days.
Schools in BC are requiring students to use digital technologies as part of the curriculum, and use of technologies by peers puts pressure on teenagers to conduct their social lives online.
Research has shown that teenagers do not necessarily share personal information willingly but choose to do so in order to participate in social activities online.
A further risk to a teen’s reputation is that it is a time of experimenting and pushing boundaries. The permanence of digital information means that teenage transgressions could remain accessible and may have a long-term effect on reputations.
As the first truly digital generation grows up, it remains to be seen whether their youthful patterns of behaviour will be affected by the knowledge that what they do as children and teens will follow them for the rest of their lives. More generally, what will be the effects of a permanent digital record of their entire lives?

Online Safety

Be your own person. Don’t let friends or strangers pressure you to be someone you aren’t.
Be nice online. People who are bullies and aggressive online are at greater risk of being bullied or harassed themselves. If someone bullies you, you should not react and you should definitely not retaliate. Talk about it with an adult you know and use privacy tools to block the bullies.
Read between the “lines.” It may be fun to check out new people for friendship or romance, but be aware that flattering or supportive messages may be more about manipulation than friendship or romance.
Don’t talk about sex with strangers. Over the years, several teachers have asked that I add this additional section in some classes. We ask students to be cautious when they are communicating with people they don’t know in person, especially if the conversation starts to be about sex or physical details. We want them to be safe from online predators. If the person persists in contacting the student, we suggest they talk to their parents or a well-known adult and then call their local police or contact Cybertip.ca, Canada’s tip line to report the online sexual exploitation of children.
Avoid in-person meetings. If you really must get together with someone you “met” online, don’t go alone. Have the meeting in a public place, tell a parent or some other solid backup, and bring some friends along.
Be smart when using a smartphone. Be careful who you give your number to and how you use GPS and other technologies that can pinpoint your physical location. Be sure to secure your phone with a PIN, password, fingerprint or facial recognition. And make sure you know how to log into the iCloud or Android Find my Device so you can remotely locate, ring or erase a lost or missing phone.
No one should measure their own life based on what other students have posted. Most teenagers, as well as adults, post positive images and events online and don’t usually share their boring or sad moments or unflattering photos. No one should assume that others have better lives than they do, based on what they have posted.

Starting the New Year with a Clean Slate

My final recommendation to teenagers in their ongoing digital odyssey is that they have the right to a clean slate online.

Every once in a while, teenagers should erase their browser history. Using algorithms, most web browsers tag all the searches done on a browser to accumulate information. Students should take the time to erase their browser history once in a while and start fresh in their online searches. They should erase their online social media postings as they age out. There is no reason to keep years’ worth of pictures and postings.

We end the session talking about algorithmic literacy. It is becoming essential that students who come to the library learning commons are aware and knowledgeable about algorithms, when they come into play, and what they do to deliver search results. Students and staff need to recognize how algorithms and big data sort out their information and shape their online travels. Searching online and using social media has changed in the last ten years from simply searching for the right answer or looking for areas of interest to one based on the specific preferences of the person using a search engine or social media app.

And at the end of the session, I ask one last time my original question about their great-grandchildren seeing everything they have posted online. After the presentation, many of the students have a different perspective about the amount and type of information they have online. It is a good place to start!

Recommended Resources

To assist in adapting presentations and lessons on Internet safety for your students, I recommend the following links:

Academic and Professional Life. Digital Tattoo: Your digital identity matters. Let’s discuss. 2021. https://digitaltattoo.ubc.ca/tutorials/academic-and-professional-life/.

CBC/Radio Canada. (2016). How to keep your kids safe online – Keeping Canada Safe – CBC-TV. CBCnews. https://www.cbc.ca/keepingcanadasafe/blog/keep-kids-safe-online.

CSL Journal – Editor.(W inter 2021). Digital and Media Literacy in Changing Times: What MediaSmarts Wants Us to Know. Canadian School Libraries Journal. https://journal.canadianschoollibraries.ca/digital-and-media-literacy-in-changing-times-what-mediasmarts-wants-us-to-know/.

Government of Canada, R.C.M.P. (2019, August 1). Infographic – Keeping yourself safe in the online world. RCMP in British Columbia. https://surrey.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=2077&languageId=1&contentId=45066.

Justice Education Society. (2014). Resources: CyberSafe BC. https://www.cybersafebc.ca/resources.

Online Safety Rules for Kids. Canada Safety Council. (2018, February 6). https://canadasafetycouncil.org/online-safety-rules-kids/.

MediaSmarts Teacher Resources. (2018, May 31). https://mediasmarts.ca/teacher-resources.

All of these resources are from Canadian organizations. Most of the resources and information are better suited for Grades 8 -12 students, but some of the content from the CBC, the Canada Safety Council and Media Smarts could be adapted and used for students in grades 6 and 7. Digital Tatoo from UBC is for students at university, but has important lessons for high school graduating students, especially the resources on Branding and Reputation.

References

CBC News (Ed.). (2021, February 20). Teenager subjected to racist cyberbullying wants parents, schools to fight hate | CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/racist-cyberbullying-coquitlam-surrey-1.5921317.

Kast, M. (2020, June 4). Cheerleader who used racial slur on social media will not attend University of Tennessee. Knoxville News Sentinel. https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/education/2020/06/04/cheerleader-who-used-racial-slur-will-not-attend-university-of-tennessee/3147231001/.

Natanson, H. (2017, June 5). Harvard Rescinds Acceptances for At Least Ten Students for Obscene Memes: News: The Harvard Crimson. News | The Harvard Crimson. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/6/5/2021-offers-rescinded-memes/.

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. (2016, January 21). Online Reputation – What are they saying about me? Online Reputation – What are they saying about me? – Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/opc-actions-and-decisions/research/explore-privacy-research/2016/or_201601/.

Richard Beaudry is an Information Specialist, Teacher Librarian, certified ALA Librarian and Fellow of the Library Association of Ireland. He has worked as a teacher-librarian in K-12 schools and teaches classes in the diploma program in Teacher-Librarianship at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Since July 2020, Richard has been the Coordinator of the Teacher Librarian Diploma and Certificate Program at UBC. Richard is particularly known for his activities to promote human rights and freedom of information, particularly as they relate to the censorship of materials in school libraries. Richard was the recipient of the 2020 BCTLA’s President’s award for his advocacy for teacher librarians in BC and the 2016 Canadian Association of Library Associations’ Award for the Advancement of Intellectual Freedom in Canada. Richard chairs the Canadian Federation of Library Associations / Fédération canadienne des associations de bibliothèques (CFLA-FCAB) Intellectual Freedom Committee, representing Canadian School Libraries. He also represents Canadian School Libraries on the librarian Working Group at the Centre for Free Expression at Ryerson University.