Internet literacy is the ability to use a device to get online, move through sites and apps, and notice that content was published by someone for a reason. Social media literacy is the same work on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or X: how the feed is built, who is speaking, and how the post is trying to make you feel.
It is a specialist page. For why media literacy matters as a civic and classroom skill, use Why is media literacy important? Last reviewed: 31 August 2026.
What does literacy mean?
Literacy here is not only decoding words. It is being able to read a message, say what it is doing, and decide what to do next. On the internet that includes images, video, comments and ads dressed up as posts.
What is internet literacy?
It covers access (a phone or laptop, a connection, a browser or app), navigation (search, links, menus), and judgement. Search results are ranked. Adverts can sit inside articles. Some material is meant to be shared under a Creative Commons licence; some is meant only to spread. Being internet literate includes spotting which is which.
What is internet media literacy? And what is social media literacy?
Media literacy is identifying a media form and the message it carries. Social media literacy looks at a specific platform: who can post, how replies and shares work, and that algorithms choose what you see. A bio, follower count or join date is not proof of reliability. Offline affiliation and a checkable source still matter.
What skills are developed from internet or social media literacy?
- Technical: how the platform actually works
- Cognitive: who made this, for whom, with what evidence
- Emotional: noticing when a post is working on fear, outrage or belonging before you share it
What are the benefits of internet or social media literacy?
You become harder to bounce into sharing something you have not checked. You also become a more careful maker of posts. That is useful in class and outside it. It does not, by itself, solve misinformation.
Some questions to ask yourself when analysing social media posts
Adapted from the Center for Media Literacy.
- Who made this post? An account name is not always the author.
- Why has it attracted my attention? Technique, emotion, or both?
- How am I reading it, and might someone else read it differently?
- What values and lifestyles are shown, and what is left out?
- Why was it made, and who does that purpose serve?
Sources
- Center for Media Literacy. Questions for analysing media messages. https://www.medialit.org/
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