Social Media

This chapter provides a discussion of the changing nature of literacy for millennial youth enrolled in college classes, particularly in relation to their take up of social media. It defines and elaborates the construct of literacy in a digital age and presents the recent research on college students’ needs and abilities in relation to digital media for social networking that mostly focuses on writing or producing texts rather than simply reading or consuming them. “Digital” is the most recent descriptor used in higher education to refer to new information and communication media, including social media. Reframing literacy instruction to include participatory spaces of social media will be important in capturing the potential of these sites for appropriate 21st-century pedagogies. Developmental literacy students will also need to refocus their writing skills and abilities.