5 Tips for Building Media Literacy
October 31, 2025 | By #GoodforMEdia Youth Leaders
It’s Media Literacy Week, a time to raise awareness about the importance of being critical about the content we see and create. With the digital world expanding and Artificial Intelligence (AI) having a larger presence, it can be challenging to know what’s real anymore. This Media Literacy Week, our #GoodforMEdia Youth Leaders want to bring us back to the basics of what media is for: connecting with others, learning new things, and expressing ourselves authentically. To support that, we’ve put together tips and resources to boost your media literacy, created by young people like you. Check them out below.
Why media literacy matters
Media literacy is important because it helps us:
Develop skills to navigate media confidently.
Know what resources are available and how to use them to be informed consumers.
Be conscious of where our information comes from.
Look beyond surface-level content.
Gain more control over our online experiences.
Set healthy boundaries with the media.
5 tips to build media literacy
#1 Learn to fact check information
Questions to consider:
Who is the creator? Are they knowledgeable and credible to speak on the topic? What are their biases and are they reflected here?
What do they want people to think, know, or do in response to it?
#2 Avoid falling for AI scams
Pay attention to small details - generative AI images often get tiny details wrong.
Be cautious of “perfect” images - overly edited photos may be fake.
Use reverse image search to find other places the photo appears.
Use AI detection tools when needed:
Text detection: GPTZero, AuthentiCheck AI, Undetectable AI
Image and video detection: Winston AI, Hive Moderation
#3 Remember: what you see online is rarely the whole reality.
43% of U.S. teens feel pressure to post content that makes them look good to others.
Young social media users tend to post about their best moments, which can make life look constantly exciting even when that isn’t true.
#4 Identify your intentions as a creator.
Ask yourself: Why am I making this?
Reflect on your agenda, intent, and bias.
Create content that’s honest and reliable. In a world of fakes, authenticity stands out.
#5 Empower others.
Ask friends, peers, and family thoughtful, critical questions about their engagement on social media. Try our #GoodforMEdia Conversation Cards to help start those conversations.
Advocate for media literacy education in your schools.
Encourage people to report misinformation when they find it.
Ready to put these tips into practice? Below you will find additional tools, activities, and youth-created resources to help you get started.
Additional Tools and Insights 📚
#GoodForMEdia’s 2024 Media Literacy Week Campaign: Learn more about media literacy and a list of activities to strengthen your access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act skills!
#GoodforMEdia’s News Guide: This guide was created to support other teens seeking ways to navigate the amount of news we consume and the emotions that come with it. We aim to show different strategies to interact with media through a critical lens while also centering our mental health.
Kareem on Navigating Misinformation Online: In this video, #GoodforMEdia Youth Leader, Kareem, shares his concerns about the overwhelming availability of information today, much of which isn’t fact-checked. Discover how he navigates misinformation and encourages his peers to do the same.
Algorithms. AI. Automatic reaction: How to Safely and Reliably Navigate Digital Media: With the expansion of artificial intelligence platforms, #GoodforMEdia Ambassador, Sophie, provides tips and strategies to carefully analyze the content we consume.
#GoodforMEdia Guides and Tools: Explore additional resources created by youth to help their peers and adult allies navigate the positive and negative aspects of social media.
Share Your Perspective 💬
Have tips, stories, or strategies for healthy social media use? Submit a testimonial to share your perspective and help others navigate online spaces. Learn more and share.