Why is Media Creation Critical to Media Literacy?

This week we’re diving into digital media literacy and content creation in my course at ASU. When it comes to digital media literacy, one thing to remember is that media creation is a key component. After all, if there is nothing to consume, then there is nothing to understand. In the age of social media and livestreaming, everyone can be both media consumer and creator. This means the lines can be blurred a bit; what you post on social media can be viewed the same as what Hollywood puts on the big screen.

The ASU Co/Lab has a great guide to the ethics of media creation as well as principles of active media usage. From the dangers of spreading misinformation on social media to building online communities, the creation of media and how it relates to media literacy are discussed.

Once, you needed to have a lot of money to start a national publication or a TV station. To start a blog, or Facebook group, or podcast, or YouTube channel, you only need several (relatively) low-cost pieces of equipment and an Internet connection.

Co/Lab https://mediactive.newscollab.org/part-three/laws-and-norms/

So why is the creation of media a critical component of media literacy? Just like there are ways to understand media, there are ways to create it for a specific purpose. Content creators are quickly becoming a mainstream hobby and even profession, like for some YouTube stars. In fact, 2 in 5 people are content creators, according to a study done by Shure and Futuresource. With so many people creating media these days, media literacy is all the more important.