最好的年纪 | 成长于假新闻时代
成长于假新闻时代
Growing up in the age of fake news
中东和北非地区的年轻人在众多社交网络之间往来切换，他们如今通过 YouTube、Instagram 和 Facebook 获取信息。为迎接信息洪流，区分可信的信息和虚假新闻，当下最迫切的需求是培养批判思维。
©️图为联合国教科文《信使》杂志2021年第2期，点击文末“阅读原文”可免费阅读本期数字版。
哈迪尔·阿布哈迈德 Hadil Abuhmaid
美国俄勒冈大学新闻和传播学院博士生，年度评论报告《2020年中东社交媒体使用情况》的合著者
前几天，我的小侄子问我最喜欢YouTube上的哪一个主播。我想也没想就回答他：“哪个都不喜欢。”我这么说，是因为我很少看YouTube。小侄子吃了一惊，问我：“那你整天用笔记本电脑做什么呀？”
我毕竟是 34 岁的博士生，不是11岁的孩子了。不过从他的反应中可以看出 YouTube 这样的平台对于世界各地许多年轻人产生的吸引力和影响力，其中也包括中东地区。中东是我的故乡，也是我一直在研究的主题。
这里是世界上最年轻的地区之一，超过28%的人口年龄在15至29岁之间。不出所料，2019年“阿拉伯青年调查”发现平均每10个年轻人当中就有9人使用至少一个社交媒体平台，用来聊天、获取信息和分享内容。
玩转多个平台
来自伊拉克巴士拉的28岁翻译塔巴雷克·拉德 (Tabarek Raad）说：“我每天都会查看自己的Facebook和Instagram账户50次左右 ，我通过这两个社交媒体账户与朋友们保持联系，了解世界各地的新鲜事。”
利用社交媒体平台了解新闻，观看朋友的动态，和朋友们互动，分享一些内容，或者仅仅是被动地浏览新闻推送，这是当今世界各地的年轻人都在做的事。不过，全球市场研究公司GWI 的数据显示，中东地区的网民平均每人拥有8.4个社交媒体账户，这让他们显得有些与众不同。
28岁的穆罕默德·哈拉巴（Mohammed Haraba）在沙特阿拉伯阿赫萨的一家大型石油公司工作，他有9个社交媒体账户，包括WhatsApp、Snapchat、Instagram和Facebook。“只要不是太忙，我每隔一个小时就会查看WhatsApp账户。这是唯一能够聚齐所有家人和朋友的平台。我认识的所有人都开通了WhatsApp账户。”
四年前，Facebook 曾是哈拉巴主要使用的社交平台，但现在没有其他平台用得勤了。据全球综合数据库 Statista 报告，有七成以上的阿拉伯人使用Facebook 和 WhatsApp，Facebook 平台在中东地区仍有很大的影响力，仅在埃及一地就有4500万用户。
社交媒体平台目前已经成为阿拉伯青年了解新闻的主要渠道。“阿拉伯青年调查”提供的统计数据显示，2020年有79%的阿拉伯青年通过社交媒体了解新闻，而2015年的这一比例仅为25%。24岁的巴勒斯坦人帕梅拉·哈达瓦（Pamella Hadawar）说：“Facebook是我了解新闻、与朋友交流的主要渠道，我每天会查看十多次。对于不同来源的新闻，我还会通过其他新闻机构和消息来源进行核实，确保新闻准确无误。”
这种趋势导致报纸和电视新闻的消费量下降。例如，沙特阿拉伯青年报告，过去四年里电视新闻的消费减少了将近30%。
信息流行病
社交媒体在中东地区的广泛应用既妙不可言，又令人提心吊胆——随着大量信息源源不断袭来，过滤信息内容变得越来越困难了。在疫情期间，虚假新闻和错误信息更是随处可见。虚假和错误的消息在社交媒体上传播得更快，并引发了“信息流行病”。
信息洪流让一些人感到难以招架。约旦安曼的数字营销专家，31岁的塔拉·扎巴拉维（Tala Zabalawi）说：“我以前主要是在推特上看新闻，但疫情暴发之后，我关闭了推特账户。疫情消息实在是让人紧张，于是我决定只去找找乐子。”
媒体消费增长，民众对于新技术的负担能力提高，这些都表明中东和北非地区的社交媒体应用将进一步普及。大型科技公司已经迅速占据了这一新兴市场，同时也引发了一场关于媒体素养的重要讨论。
中东和北非地区的一些组织认识到媒体教育对于年轻人意义重大，于是开办了培训和讲习班来提高人们在这方面的认识。另外还有一些创新项目可供民众核查事实真相，例如约旦的阿拉伯语法塔巴亚诺平台。
这还只是开始。要培养批判性思维，并用来辨别真相和谎言，区分事实和观点，我们需要广泛开展媒体教育，尤其是在学校里。
相关链接
《Z世代自述》
联合国教科文组织《信使》2021年4-6月
https://unesco.exposure.co/z?source=share-UNESCO
《公共卫生危机，滋生虚假信息的沃土》
联合国教科文组织《信使》2020年7-9月
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000120152
《培养批判性思维，抵制虚假新闻》
联合国教科文组织《信使》2017年7-9月
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000120765
Growing up in the age of fake news
Hopping from one social network to another, young people in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region now get their information from YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. To be able to distinguish between reliable information and fake news while navigating this flood of information, it is urgent to develop critical thinking.
Hadil Abuhmaid
A doctoral candidate at the School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon, United States, she is co-author of How The Middle East Used Social Media in 2020 an annual review.
Some days ago, my nephew asked me who my favourite YouTuber was. Without hesitation, I said “no one”, because I rarely watch YouTube. He gasped and asked, “Then what do you do on your laptop all day?”
Well, I am a 34-year-old Ph.D. student, not an 11-year-old. But his reaction reflects the power and influence that platforms like YouTube have on many young people around the world – including the Middle East, the region where I am from and which I continue to study.
In one of the most youthful regions in the world – where over twenty-eight per cent of the population is between 15 and 29 – it should come as no surprise that nine out ten young adults use at least one social media platform to converse, access information, and share content, according to the 2019 Arab Youth Survey.
Juggling between multiple platforms
“I check my Facebook and Instagram about fifty times a day,” Tabarek Raad, 28, a translator from Basra, Iraq, said. “I use these two social media accounts to connect with friends and keep myself in the loop of what’s going on in the world,” she added.
Using social media platforms to check the latest news, watch and interact with friends’ stories, share something, or just passively browse through the newsfeed, is universal among youth everywhere today. But what is interesting about internet users in the Middle East is that they have an average of 8.4 social media accounts, according to GlobalWebIndex (GWI), the market research firm.
Mohammed Haraba, 28, who works for a large oil company in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia, has nine social media accounts – including WhatsApp, Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook. “I check WhatsApp every hour, unless I am too busy. It is the only platform on which family and friends gather. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have an account,” he said.
Facebook, which used to be Haraba’s main platform for socializing four years ago, now ranks low on his list. With over seven out of ten Arabs using Facebook and WhatsApp, the platform still has a big presence in the region, with 45 million Facebook users only in Egypt, Statista reports.
Social media platforms are now the dominant source of news for young Arabs. Statistics from the Arab Youth Survey show that in 2020, seventy-nine per cent of young Arabs receive their news from social media, compared to only twenty-five per cent in 2015. “Facebook is one of my main sources of news and communication with friends. I check it more than ten times a day,” Pamella Hadawar, 24, from Palestine said. “And depending where the news comes from, I check with other news agencies and sources to make sure it is accurate.”
This trend has resulted in a decline in news consumption through newspapers and television. Saudi Arabian youth, for example, reported an almost thirty per cent decline in TV news watching in the past four years.
An infodemic
The widespread use of social media in the region is both fascinating and scary – with information bombarding us constantly, it has become harder to filter the content. Fake news and misinformation have become especially prevalent during the pandemic. False and inaccurate news has spread even more rapidly on social media, resulting in an infodemic.
The deluge of information has been overwhelming for some. “I used to get most of my news from Twitter, but I deactivated my account when the pandemic started,” says Tala Zabalawi, 31, a digital marketing specialist in Amman, Jordan. “It was so stressful to read about the pandemic, that I decided to focus on happy thoughts instead.”
The growth of media consumption and the increasing affordability of new technologies point to an even further expansion in the use of social media in the MENA region. Big tech companies have been quick to take advantage of this emerging market. This has initiated an important discussion around media literacy.
Realizing the value of media education for young adults, several organizations in the region have been offering training and workshops to increase awareness. Other initiatives – like Jordan’s Fatabayyano platform in Arabic – offer fact-checking services.
This is a start. In order to develop critical thinking that allows us to distinguish between truth and lies, between facts and opinions, we need the widespread introduction of media education, particularly in schools.
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