COMBATING SOCIAL MEDIA DISINFORMATION AMONG YOUTH THROUGH LIVE ACTION ROLE PLAY

<< Background >>The project was initiated in response to a significant need among youth for enhanced media literacy skills in an increasingly digital world. Young people, being the most active social media users, are regularly exposed to disinformation, which impacts their understanding of societal issues, shaping perceptions and influencing democratic processes negatively. The project aimed to address the gap in ML skills needed to identify and counteract such disinformation effectively.Additionally, there was a related need to provide youth workers and educators with up-to-date tools and methodologies to engage effectively with this digital-native generation of Gen Z. Traditional educational methods often fall short in capturing the attention and interest of young people, who prefer interactive and more creative learning environments. Incorporating live-action role-playing games (LARPs) into ML education provided an innovative, practical approach that aligns with the learning preferences of today’s youth.By addressing these needs, the initiative supported the development of informed, critically thinking young citizens equipped to participate actively and responsibly in democratic processes.<< Objectives >>The project sought to contribute to reducing the impact of disinformation on social media among European youth, a demographic highly susceptible to disinformation due to their prevalent media consumption habits and lack of required ML skills. Recognizing that 87% of youth aged 16-24 use social networks and that many engage with civic and political content online, the project targeted this group to enhance their ML to identify, analyze, and respond to disinformation responsibly.The specific objectives were:- Equipping youth workers with effective tools and methodologies, particularly through a toolkit with scenarios for live action role play that develop ML skills.- Providing a guide for youth workers on educating youth about disinformation and using the toolkit effectively.- Developing a mobile game simulating social media environments where youth would make decisions affecting their MLOverall, the project aimed to strengthen democratic engagement and civic participation among youth, ensuring they are well-prepared to contribute positively to society and tackle the influence of disinformation.<< Implementation >>Throughout the project, the following activities were implemented to achieve the objectives set:1.Development of a Toolkit for Disinformation LARPs:•Drafting the Toolkit: initial creation of the larp and topic scenarios tailored to teach ML•Focus Groups to gather feedback from educators and youth workers •Pilot Testing the toolkit scenarios with young people in the partner countries•Finalization of the toolkit based on pilot feedback to enhance its effectiveness and quality•Translations of the toolkit to partner languages.2.Creation of a Guide for Organising Disinformation LARPs:•Guide Drafting: developing a structured guide for educators on using LARPs to combat disinformation among youth•Focus Groups and Pilot Testing: similar to the toolkit, these activities involved feedback collection and practical testing with target users to ensure the guide's practicality.•Finalization and Translations: Final adjustments to the guide and translating it for broader use.3.Development of a Disinformation Role-Play Mobile Game:•App Structure and Functionality: Laying out the foundational design and functionality of the mobile game.•Game Content Creation: Developing engaging content (3 topic scenarios) that simulates real-life situations with social media disinformation.•App Design: Creating an interactive and user-friendly interface, development of the app (back-end and front-end)•Pilot Testing and Finalization: Testing the app with youth and finalizing based on feedback to ensure an immersive and educational experience, releasing the app on Apple Store and Google Play4.Learning Activity in Frankfurt:•Conducting training sessions for youth workers on how to implement and use the developed DIS-PLAY tools effectively.•Preparing youth workers for further piloting and collecting initial feedback to further refine project results.5.Multiplier Events in the partner countries:•Organizing events in partner countries to disseminate project results and increase local engagement.6.Final Project Conference in Stockholm:•Organizing a final conference to showcase the project results, discuss impacts, and explore future directions.•Engaging with key stakeholders, including educators, government agencies and community organisations to maximize the project’s reach and impact.7.Multiple dissemination activities8.Project management and Quality Assurance activitiesThese activities were structured over the project timeline from March 2022 to the end of February 2024, ensuring a systematic approach to achieving the project objectives and delivering the results.<< Results >>The DIS-PLAY project successfully achieved its objectives, delivering the results that enhance media literacy among youth and equip youth workers and educators with innovative pedagogical tools and training materials. The concrete outputs were:1.Toolkit with LARP Scenarios on Disinformation (PR1):•A comprehensive toolkit containing live-action role-play (LARP) with topic scenarios, designed to increase capacity of youth educators in fostering media literacy among youth to ultimately address social media disinformation.2.Guide on Organizing Disinformation LARPs (PR2):•A guide to assist educators and youth workers in implementing disinformation-focused courses or study circles. This guide provides pedagogical recommendations on teaching GenZ youth along with the instructions on using the LARP method effectively.3.Disinformation Role-Play Mobile Game (PR3):•A mobile game that allows young people to apply media literacy skills in simulated scenarios about social media disinformation, available both for iPhone and Android.Other results of the project included:Qualitative results:•Enhanced Skills and Competences: training of educators and youth workers within partner organizations improved their pedagogical expertise. Meanwhile the youth that participated in the project activities increased their media literacy skills.•Stakeholder Engagement: Active involvement of youth workers, GenZ youth and education stakeholders in the design and validation of project outputs enriched their quality and facilitated future application possibilities.•Promotion and Outreach: Project outcomes have been promoted for potential use by other organizations and regions, enhancing sustainability and broader impact.Quantitative results:•Direct Engagement: 100 young people participated in the pilot implementation of the project results and the Learning, Teaching, Training Activities (LTTA) in Germany, enhancing their media literacy skills.•Educator Development: 35 youth educators increased their media literacy competencies through participation in project pilots and LTTA in Frankfurt.•Wide Dissemination: Over 20,000 individuals from more than 1,500 organizations, including education providers and stakeholders, were informed about the project through various dissemination activities. At least 120 participants attended the project’s multiplier events, further disseminating project outcomes and fostering community engagement.These outputs and results collectively advanced the project's aim to equip youth workers and educators with effective tools and methodologies, empowering young people to critically engage with and combat disinformation on social media.