Think Twice - media literacy tips for the Gen Z
Countering disinformation with video lessons in a TikTok format
Disinformation is spreading rapidly on the Internet - currently also about the terrorist attacks in Israel and their consequences. At the same time, social media is an important source of information, especially for young people. To avoid falling for false claims, they therefore need to be able to assess sources and recognize warning signals. But how do we best reach them to teach them this media literacy? The Think Twice project provides an answer.
The project at a glance
Goal: Strengthening the media skills of Gen Z
This project is designed to help effectively curb disinformation and strengthen media literacy, especially among the younger generation
Production of social media videos
The aim is to produce videos in a modern social media-ready format by and for digital natives. The videos will be offered as learning and teaching material and are thus also aimed at multipliers such as teachers. For the production of these videos, we will involve members of Gen Z in a community with a virtual newsroom, where they can participate in video conferences and workshops.
International partners
The project is coordinated by the German Press Agency dpa and brings together partners from several countries with extensive experience in teaching media literacy: Verificat from Spain, Faktabaari from Finland and Lie Detectors, which is based in Brussels and operates in several countries. The goal is to develop a toolkit that is transferable and applicable internationally.
Funding from the EU
The project is funded by the EU and will run until the end of September 2025.
Here you can find all videos published so far
3 Questions for fact checking (German)
How to identify emotional language in texts and media (German)
Common strategies of disinformation: FLICC pattern (German)
How do recommendation algorithms work? (German)
How to evaluate the expertise of experts (Catalan)
Prebunking: Disinformation narratives in the course of the EU elections 2024 (Finnish)
Do AI tools have biases? (German)
Ellen laat zien hoe jij nepnieuws kunt herkennen met 3 eenvoudige vragen. Heb jij ooit een video gedeeld en kwam je er later achter dat er niets van aan was? Deel het in de comments!
Iedereen heeft vooroordelen, en zo ook AI. Hoe seksistisch en racistisch is AI precies? We komen er samen achter met een klein experiment.
Teaching material
FaktaBaari materials are in Finnish. Faktabaari wants to provide teachers and educators with simple and well-prepared materials that make it easy to get the message across.
Verificat materials are in Catalan. They contain a work plan, key concepts and activities to put theory into practice. The materials are ready for use in the classroom.
dpa has produced teaching material in German for teachers.
Supported and accompanied by
Fact-checking basics in a video format - right where Gen Z gets its information: that's Think Twice.
Teresa Dapp Managing Director of dpa-infocom
Disclaimer
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
On September 19th the project partners held a workshop to present the first results. In this workshop dpa, Verificat and Factbaari explored the innovative intersection of social media and educational content. A representative from TikTok was also present. We delved into how TikTok videos, crafted by experienced creators, serve as dynamic teaching tools for media literacy to reach Gen Z. And how these videos each address a unique aspect of media literacy, laying the groundwork for comprehensive toolkits designed for educators and facilitators.