4.6 Moving Forward: Meta literacy

This chapter examined the notion that our emotional responses to social media posts impact our reactions to and belief in them. A foundational understanding of why we react the way we do is a step towards becoming metaliterate. Metaliteracy is a “model that empowers learners to be reflective and informed producers of information both individually and in collaboration with others” (Metaliteracy, n.d., para. 4). The concept is a broadening of the notion of information literacy (covered in Chapter 1) to include the modern, online world. You will recall that an information literate individual can identify when information is needed, can locate, assess, use and make meaningful decisions about it (de Paor & Heravi, 2020). Dr. Thomas McKay describes a metaliterate person as someone who will go a step further and engage in inner reflection when interacting with information. “Meta” refers to the idea of “thinking about your own thinking” (Academic Minute, 2021, para. 6). Not only will the metaliterate person consider the origin of the information (who created, why did they create it, where is it being shared, why am I seeing it?), they will also consider their role as a consumer, translator, and sharer (what should I do with this information, how will it impact me and my social network?). Due to the strong emotion that disinformation can cause, it is important to recognise those feelings and think about our own thinking.