Impact of new media literacy on youth’s usage skills

Abstract EN

The concept of new media literacy emerged and nourished through the community education movements.

it relied on the active participation and support of many stakeholders in the society, for instance, media gatekeepers, educational leaders, and governmental figures (Kahne, lee, and Feezell, 2012).

according to Renee Hobbs, digital media literacy is defined as acquiring a number of diverse life skills that are crucial for the full participation in media-saturated and information rich societies.

in other words, a digital media literate person should be able to make responsible choices regarding the information and materials he accesses and shares.

he should be able to evaluate and analyze the origin and the credibility of the messages content, as well as identifying the author and his purpose and intention.

he should be able to create his own messages through the use of the language, sounds, graphics, and new digital technologies (Martens and Hobbs, 2015).

also, he should be able to reflect on his own work and conduct by understanding and applying ethical principles and social responsibility theories (Hobbs, 2010).

people generally have the need to access, analyze, and engage in the critical thinking process regarding the messages they get bombarded with, in order to reach proper decisions in their everyday life situations (Kahne, lee, and Feezell, 2012).

today, to be considered a full and active participant, people not only consume mass media messages, but also they develop and share them.

media literate people must acquire multimedia communication skills, which are defined as the ability to formulate messages through the use of language, sounds, colors, and graphics on the one hand.

being able to use these skills in the civic life of their communities on the other hand.

the study aims at determining new media literacy among youth and its effect on their usage skills and patterns.

in addition to, measuring their analytical, communicative, creative, productive, participative, evaluative, comprehensive, and distributive abilities while using the different types of online media.

moreover, it will discuss how media literacy contributes to the awareness, the knowledge, and the empowerment of the Egyptian audience through the practice of their selective skills.

finally, identifying the demographic variables like (age, gender, and educational level) and their impact on users’ degree of media literacy (both consuming and prosuming) and usage skills.

the study is based on quantitative research, where survey method will be used.

a pre-planned questionnaire will be distributed among a representative sample to measure their diverse behavior in the online space, and their understanding of the notion of new media literacy.

population of the study is represented in all types of youth who use new media especially social media.