Examining the impacts of a gamified media literacy intervention in Indonesia

Examining an attempt to integrate messaging applications and gamified approaches to deploy media literacy interventions.

Abstract

Integrating popular messaging applications and gamified approaches is an emerging strategy to deploy media literacy interventions at-scale. The present study examines the impacts of a WhatsApp-styled intervention in prebunking mis- and dis-information among an age and gender stratified sample of 504 Indonesian adults. Guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior, the intervention aimed to inoculate participants to common disinformation tactics and arguments through interactive elements simulating group chats with loved ones around three major topic areas (health, news and finance). Data were collected on participants’ attitudes, subjective norms, self-efficacy, intentions, and ability to detect disinformation before and after the intervention. Following the intervention, participants reported a statistically significant increase in motivation to detect fake information, perception that it is normal to identify disinformation online, and greater motivation to combat misinformation. These impacts were sustained two weeks after the intervention. While self-efficacy increased immediately after the intervention, it returned to baseline levels at the two-week follow-up, despite this initial increase. Findings provide valuable insights into the potential of gamified interventions to effectively influence key behavioral determinants related to disinformation consumption and sharing, particularly motivation and perceived norms.

Following the intervention, participants reported a statistically significant increase in motivation to detect fake information, perception that it is normal to identify disinformation online, and greater motivation to combat misinformation.

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