Tumblr launches internet literacy campaign in partnership with Ditch the Label

The Tumblr logoThe problem of misinformation on social media sites is well documented, so with the 2020 US presidential election coming up this year, Tumblr has launched an internet literacy campaign to help young web users spot suspicious activity online, The Verge reports.

The World Wide What initiative was developed in partnership with Ditch the Label, a UK-based, not-for-profit, internet literacy organization. It centres on six videos that cover issues ranging from fake news to cyberbullying. The videos use Tumblr-like imagery and language, including short texts, GIFs and memes.

“We looked at this with an eye toward the Tumblr audience and how we should present this and how it’s culturally relevant to them,” Victoria McCullough, Tumblr’s director of social impact and public policy, told The Verge. “Doing it in GIFs, in a way that some other platforms have done similar things, will seem more educational. It’s more relevant to our audience.”

Tumblr CEO Jeff D’Onofrio added that having videos that break down what these (misinformation) posts look like specifically on Tumblr will help people develop some scepticism around what they’re seeing.

The videos are available to watch on Tumblr now, and in the coming weeks and months, the social media firm will also run Q&A session on digital literacy, misinformation, and cyberbullying, hosted by experts in each field.

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