Building Resilience against Disinformation: Media Literacy and Digital Hygiene Interventions for Nigerian Youth
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54536/jmjmc.v1i1.4827Keywords:
Digital Hygiene, Digital Resilience, Disinformation, Media Literacy, Online SafetyAbstract
Digital media evidently aided the growing rate of disinformation in the society today, which poses a significant threat, particularly among youths who majorly interacts through the media space, and this menace hampers public trust, civic engagement, and democratic participation. This research study evaluates the level of media literacy and cyber hygiene among Nigerian youth, examining their ability to decipher, analyze and resist false information. Data was combined from a structured online survey of 308 youth-respondents, three group discussions and six oral interviews comprising of educators, media personnel, and youth leaders using a mixed-method approach. The result shows a high rate of dependence on social media for information sharing (86.1% usage daily), with limited awareness of disinformation as 58.3% are unfamiliar with the term, and insufficient level of formal training in media literacy recording 34.3%. Findings from the qualitative insights revealed thoughtful concerns such as political manipulations, peer pressure, and content monetization which grows the normalization of spreading unverified contents for the sake of engagements in digital spaces. Irrespective of these shortcomings, an encouraging number of respondents (79.6%) expressed a strong desire to participate in media literacy training programs and digital hygiene campaigns. This research further speaks on the urgent need for youth centered interventions that blends education, digital policy and civic engagement to enhance resilience and ability to combat against disinformation among Nigerian youth.
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