We are living in a time where people are relying on online sources and social media to stay in touch, find accurate information and get news updates. With parents currently homeschooling and an increase in screen time for teenagers, what are the top tips we should know and what should we be doing to ensure our younger generations are critically engaging with the information they see online?

Twitter has been working with partners around the world to advance the conversation around media and information literacy. In partnership with UNESCO, it has produced Teaching and Learning with Twitter, a resource for educators to equip younger generations with skills to navigate today’s media environment. Download the handbook here.

“As an open platform for public conversation, Twitter has always championed free expression and free flow of information online. These complementary commitments intersect when we discuss media and information literacy,” said Ronan Costello, Senior Public Policy Manager, Twitter. “We hope that this Handbook will help educators and students navigate an increasingly complicated media environment. We look forward to continued collaboration with UNESCO on how media and information literacy can empower people - especially younger generations - to critically engage with content they see online.”

So what are the top tips we can give to our young people:

1. Media Literacy: The old saying of ‘don’t believe what you hear on the radio/ read in the papers’ still holds true in relation to the digital world; we can access so much information online, but they also need a set of competencies to search, critically evaluate, use and contribute information and media content wisely.



2. Controlling Your Online Presence: Advise your children to search their name, username and email address on a search engine; check their privacy settings; deactivate or delete old profiles; and always pause and think before you post.



3. Protect Yourself Online: It is important to make them understand that in the digital world, there are dangers. Make sure they create a strong password, don’t duplicate passwords on multiple platforms, use an antivirus programme, be wary of spam and pop-ups and finally always know you can mute, block and report users easily on Twitter and other platforms.



4. Digital etiquette refers to how we conduct ourselves online and how to do so appropriately. It’s important to be conscious that tone does not always translate to text, and to remember to be empathetic and respectful even when we come across a viewpoint we disagree with.



5. Digital Footprints: Choose wisely what platforms they want to be on, constantly perform ‘hygiene checks’ to ensure their data settings are as they would wish, make sure that third-party apps only have access to as much data as is needed, and that their passwords are strong.

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