The Role of New Media Literacy in the Perception of Trust in Social Media

This study examines the relationship between social media users’ new media literacy levelsand their perception of social media trust. The findings reveal that social media literacy levelsare independent of demographic factors, such as gender, education level, or geographicallocation. The democratization of information access brought about by Web 2.0 and subsequenttechnologies, and the universal character of new media literacy are emphasized. Additionally, apositive relationship between media literacy and social media trust perception is identified. Higherlevels of functional and critical consumption, as well as functional and critical prosumption, arefound to increase social media trust. It is recommended that media literacy education programsfocus on training conscious media users who can critically evaluate media content. Social mediaplatforms should develop stricter monitoring mechanisms to enhance content accuracy. Thesefindings demonstrate the ability of media literacy to increase trust in social media platforms. Policymakers and educators are encouraged to strengthen and expand media literacy educationprograms. This study suggests that media literacy education can enhance societal informationsecurity by improving the processes of accessing and evaluating information.