Althea Dayata

All along with the good side of social media, it also has its own bad side. Despite all its benefits for us, there are also potential issues that we can’t really do anything about. Social media itself is not a problem at all. But on how people will use it. These days, especially us Gen-Z, are being so exposed in social media. The worst part here is where many people now use these platforms to earn or to have other people’s approval for their appearance or compare themselves to others. The other very alarming thing about these platforms is nowadays, we rely mostly on information that we will see online. But some information there is not that accurate and will just lead us to be more confused at all. Social media platforms could also make us be manipulated. Many of us now, especially Gen-Z, spend a lot of time scrolling through social media. This is why many young ones these days are more depressed, experience anxiety, and other bad effects because of what they are seeing there that might make them feel worthless or something, that isn't even true. What we need to do is we should limit and know how to control ourselves by using these platforms so that we won’t fall into its rabbit’s hole, that won’t even give any good benefits for us.

Everything changed. From buying groceries from physical stores, we tend to buy goods and stuff now through online shopping. Another thing here is from face-to-face classes to online classes and remote work or the term "Work-from-home" for those who couldn't do their jobs physically in the time of this pandemic. Many of the students suffered from a lack of things or stuff that they needed for them to be able to attend online classes. Other students stopped attending school because they had nothing to have access to online classes. Yes, we have the alternative, which is the modules, but students have different ways of learning. Many of us were not good at self-studying. This problem of our society might leave other people left behind. COVID-19 worsens our situation in the digital divide in our community as it occurs. It is vital to break the digital divide in society to allow those unprivileged people to have access to the information and other benefits that the internet can give to those who can access it.

There has never been a deeper significant interest in news literacy. As information became more contaminated with a never-ending stream of fake news, misinformation, scams, rumors, sarcasm, and promotion — all are appearing as actual reporting — that became increasingly impossible to distinguish fact from fiction. While its people's trust in the news media is declining, misinformation from people has added to upsetting social patterns and startling political gatherings. Due to youths' increased reliance on social media for news, there has been an increase in media literacy initiatives aimed at supporting youth's ability to critically and consciously interpret the news. To be news literate, on the other hand, does not always imply that such knowledge and abilities are utilized in practice.

Newspapers, radio, television, the internet, are where people learn the news, get entertainment and find helpful information. Mass communication increasingly is no longer filtered through elite media, but rather proliferates through free-flowing citizen-based social media. Should it even be called media anymore? We like to call it youdia, which means mass communication is more and more controlled by us or you. The people and the government often feel separated. Dangerously, we worry about declining trust, corruption, elitism, and tyranny, resulting in declining political efficacy. So, what brings the people and the government together? It's the media. The Freedom of Information Act allows more and more of us, citizens, to look at more information that the government would like to keep secret, prevents journalists from revealing sources even those sources tell the news that the government doesn't want us to know. This brings us to the question, what's the relationship between public officials and the media? Is it love or hate? More appropriately should be loved and hate. Politicians increasingly use the media to share stories that shed a favorable light on what politicians are doing. Yet, around every corner is a camera and a journalist ready to explore a mistake at the same time.

Nowadays, we are overwhelmed with information, so literacy necessitates knowing what to say to oneself. At the same time, recognizing factual data, accurate information, fake news, and biased facts is a crucial element of becoming media and information literate. There will be no ought to be anxious about utilizing media and information if everybody knows Media and Information Literacy. We can make our claim choices and decisions off chance if we have those media information abilities. It is vital to be an individual who knows media and information literate because this enables us to understand the different parts of those messages that we can get or receive from television, radio, the internet, and other media. This will help us to evaluate information correctly based on our knowledge to help resolve problems or accomplish its purpose. Individuals can identify themselves precisely creatively and viably. It will also encourage us to think logically and will lead us to become responsible social media users. We will have a sophisticated approach not to be easily persuaded by misleading information due to this. It encourages everyone to actively participate in conversations that improve our abilities and allow people to voice their opinions responsibly. Perks are that it helps in the growth of our society being free, automated, has varied social sites with an open and accessible platform.