The role of media literacy in shaping campus student leaders’ perceptions of media activism, online risks, and social support

Author(s)/Creator(s)

• Srivi Ramasubramanian, Syracuse UniversityFollow
• Minnie McMillian, Syracuse University
• Shumaila Bhatti, Virginia Tech University
• Shannon Burth, Syracuse University
• Julius Matthew Riles, University of Missouri
• Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz, University of Missouri
• Melody Wilson, Syracuse University

ORCID

0000-0003-2140-8008

Document Type

Article

Date

2026

Keywords

media literacy, activism, social justice, identity, digital participation, civic engagement

Language

English

Disciplines

Communication | Communication Technology and New Media | Critical and Cultural Studies | Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication | International and Intercultural Communication | Journalism Studies | Mass Communication | Organizational Communication | Social Justice | Social Media

Description/Abstract

Campus activism by student leaders has historically played a significant role in social movements. Within contemporary contexts, media is an important site through which campus student leaders raise awareness, share relevant information, distribute online petitions, and shape public discourses on various social issues. Media literacy is an essential skill for student leaders to be effective in their activist initiatives and be able to cope with the inevitable pushback through trolling and cyberbullying that such activism would likely bring up. This survey (N = 855) with college student leaders across three universities explores how they rate themselves on media literacy skills, how well they understand the risks involved with media activism, and what types of community support they see as having to cope with such risks. Specifically, we used the identity, skills, risks and opportunity framework of the EU Online Kids model to examine how participants’ social identities (such as political orientation, race, social class, and gender) and self-reported perceptions of media literacy shaped their perceptions of online risk, likelihood to engage in media activism, and social support-seeking behaviors. Findings suggest a central role played by perceived media literacy skills in influencing likelihood to engage in media activism and social support seeking during negative online experiences. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Recommended Citation

Ramasubramanian, S., McMillian, M. S., Bhatti, S. J., Burth, S., Riles, J. M., Behm-Morawitz, E., & Wilson, M. (2026). The role of media literacy in shaping campus student leaders’ perceptions of media activism, online risks, and social support. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 18(2), 31-45. https://doi.org/10.23860/JMLE-2026-18-2-3

Source

submission

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.