I don't really know what to say about this video except to implore people to listen very carefully to every single word he's saying

people talking about the evils of tiktok always remind me how extremely powerful its algorithm is bc when I open tiktok, what I get is stuff like this

there is a big irony in the "kids want ao3 to be like tiktok" outrage where people are complaining that children are so media illiterate they can't even use ao3 and can only use tiktok, when in reality the much bigger issue on display is the lack of media literacy of the adults complaining

because what happened, as it does so often, is one tweet/thread (now deleted) and one tiktok comment (maybe two but I could honestly not find more than one of each as being the source of this) being passed around so much that people essentially interpreted whatever shit opinion they have of young people on them.

there is no movement from teenagers to tiktok-ify ao3. what there is is a few teenagers not sure how every ao3 feature works. the only "movement" is adults seeing unsourced statements that confirm their own biases (in this case the bias being that kids today are on average stupider, more media illiterate because of tiktok and the confirmation being the statement "kids want to make ao3 into tiktok") and reacting to that with a fervent passion to be part of this kid-hating online mob.

If you took part in this outrage or the more hinged but equally based-on-nothing discussions and didn't even take a second to wonder where it came from, I implore you to check out these resources. you need them just as much as all these alleged stupid kids you are so passionate to publicly make fun of as an adult

(via thatgreygentleman)

via beebetwee

⁣this is about the most wholesome and heartwarming thing I've seen today

tiktok introduced a downvote button on comments and at first I thought oh jesus christ did they learn nothing but actually I quite like the way it works

it only displays a number next to likes, not the dislikes. you don't get notified about dislikes either, only likes. so the only thing they do is give you the ability to anonymously say "this comment is bad/irrelevant"

while I personally firmly believe in preventing hate comments at the source as the best solution, I think especially for tiktok comment sections this is a really good option for a start. when people open comments now they are way more likely to see positives than before when likes and replies determined the rank of a comment and therefore hate comments with lots of disagreeing comments were prioritised in the top spots. now people can express their disagreement without responding and they can actively make less people see it at all.

schmoyoho has created the imho single greatest stranger things audio that's gone viral on tiktok yet and if I have to live with it playing on a constant loop in my brain, so do you (I cut the tiktok to just be the viral audio part)

there's two tiktok trends using Bo Burnham songs at the moment that expose all sorts of privileges, biases and double standards and I just think they're really smart and a great way to get conversations about these issues started

a compilation of some examples:

Hank Green ranting about the damaging idea that kids on TikTok fall for misinformation more easily than other demographics that people who feel superior to them often have. (x)

Here's a post that includes a list of TikTokers that work to fight misinformation on Tiktok instead of just complaining about it and many many more resources.

Ignoring an issue is not the same as an issue being nonexistent

tumblr has a thriving radfem/TERF/transphobia scene like twitter

tumblr posts spread conspiracies and disinformation like tiktoks

tumblr users share fake news and misinformation like facebook users

Assuming these issues don't exist on tumblr because you haven't (to your knowledge) seen them does not mean they don't exist. In fact it makes you more vulnerable to falling victim to believing misinformation and being radicalised because you've internalised a sense of security and superiority.

Tumblr is not an inherently better or smarter platform than any other. You can and inevitably will be exposed to these things even here.

Drop the superiority complex and learn about how to actually protect yourself from falling for misinformation, because being on tumblr does not automatically protect you.

(x) by @chrishallbeck

Media Literacy Masterpost

This post is constantly evolving. You can help by sharing resources you know, pointing out broken links or even expressing criticism of the resources provided here if you have any. Come back any time to see if there's anything new. (Google Docs version for easier sharing outside tumblr)

Updated: November 11th 2024

The Basics

Websites

Casey Fiesler

Check Your Fact

The Conspiracy Chart

Harvard Misinformation Review

InVid

The Media Bias Chart

Media Literacy Now

MediaSmarts

MediaWise (by Poynter)

National Association for Media Literacy Education

News Literacy Project

Poynter

Reuters Fact Check

SourceWatch

Truth Decay Project Tools Database* (A lot of websites that are relevant are listed here. Only websites that aren't on that list will be listed in this post)

Articles

Interactive Learning Tools

Critical Thinking Project

Go Viral! (Covid Misinformation)

News Lit Quiz

Truth Decay Project Education/Training Tools* (A lot of interactive tools that are relevant are listed here. Only websites and tools that aren't on that list will be listed in this post)

Social Media

Media Literacy Now

MediaWise

PolitiFact

Abbie Richards

Adam Conover

Aslan Pahari

Astro Alexandra

babs_zone

Hank Green

MediaWise

PolitiFact

Professor Casey

Zeke Darwin

@is-the-post-reliable

I have personally left twitter due to its new ownership, so it will be difficult for me to keep vetting the listed accounts the way I used to, however I will keep them listed as long as I still trust them.

Abbie Richards

AFP Fact Check

Fact-Checking Network

Media Literacy Now

MediaWise

National Association for Media Literacy Education

PolitiFact

Reuters Fact Check

hankschannel

MediaSmarts

MediaWise

PolitiFact

Bonus

My media literacy tag

Remember to share these resources to help shape a world wide web that is safer and smarter and protect yourself and others from manipulation and radicalization.

ok I wanna talk about these posts

Now I don't wanna say these posts are wrong or that I disagree with them, but they are only two of many that I see in a similar vein and my general take is: We need to change the way we have this conversation.

Because yes. It is true that young people get indoctrinated on TikTok (and other platforms including tumblr!) in the same way older generations get indoctrinated through FOX News or Facebook.

But we can't let these conversations always start and stop with "these groups are gullible and THIS vague entity is responsible for it and I am so smart for realising this and they're stupid for not realising it".

We need to finally start solution-oriented conversations. We need people who don't just point at the problem but actually talk about how we can fix it.

TikTok has an issue with misinformation that users don't have the tools to recognise?

Well here's a list of only a few of the TikTok accounts that fight this issue right on the platform where they can get these users' attention.

MediaWise

Abbie Richards

Aslan Pahari

Astro Alexandra

Professor Casey

Hank Green

Adam Conover

All of these, to varying degrees, correct misinformation and/or provide tools to promote media literacy. Some even want to help change the platform altogether.

I know not everyone who wants to help can do things like this, but a good place to start helping change things would be to support these accounts and all the other people out there doing what they do. Most of them are on other platforms or have websites (or Patreon/Ko-Fi/etc bc monetary support for these efforts is important too) if you don't wanna get a TikTok account to help them get more attention.

And here is a Masterpost where I collect resources for how to improve your own media literacy and how to help others do the same (and I promise you, no matter how smart or skilled or media-literate you think you are, you will learn something new from these). This masterpost is updated regularly and includes a longer list of TikTok users to follow as well.

So next time you see a post like this about how stupid TikTok users are for falling for conspiracies or how Facebook is nothing but fake news or whatever, think about whether the post is actually helping in some way or only trying to make tumblr users feel superior over others, and maybe try to share something you learned here instead.

feeling a spiritual connection with this little robot that has depression (x)

(x)