Media literacy and the future of the web

Lately, there has been significant discussion over the future of the world wide web. From talk of governments who censor information that they deem culturally dangerous to net neutrality, it is unclear what form the internet of the future might take or who might be exerting control over it. In addition, the growth and change of the internet is not (yet) well understood, something the BBC discusses in this article about a new research collaboration between MIT and the University of Southampton, UK – the Web Science Research Initiative:

“The Web Science Research Initiative will chart out a research agenda aimed at understanding the scientific, technical and social challenges underlying the growth of the web.

Of particular interest is the growing volume of information on the web that documents more and more aspects of human activity and knowledge.

The project will examine how we access this information and assess its reliability.”

Journalism.net players become media and web literate by learning how journalists assess information reliability – through being critical of sources, cross-checking information, and examining documents for authors’ intent and opinions. This critical view of information will surely be useful to them as they attempt to make informed decisions, whatever the context.

As the study of the web expands and becomes more mainstream, it will be interesting to see whether this idea of media literacy begins to join print literacy in the basic, core skillset that children are expected to learn and practice from a young age.