Google preaches internet literacy to Gen Z in self-aware PSA
Google has launched an internet literacy campaign geared towards Gen Z audiences in a move to build trust and awareness of its growing suite of information literacy tools.
’Let’s Internet Better’ takes the form of a public service announcement that relies heavily on humor and colorful visuals to get its message across, demonstrating that online safety doesn’t have to be dry and dull.
Videos on YouTube and TikTok invite audiences to apply their critical faculties to information gleaned online, surfacing a range of search tips and tricks to verify whether information surfaced by Google has any basis in fact.
To deliver this message in a digestible manner, prominent TikTok creators including Hank Green and Matt Taylor have been enlisted to demonstrate how to safely share information with others or conduct a reverse image search like a pro.
Each short and snappy clip highlights a different strand of Google’s search tool repertoire, utilizing content relevant to its target audience to do so.
In order to more deeply ingrain lessons learned, Google is also offering interactive in-feed tutorials on Instagram Stories that enable people to put their newfound knowledge into practice.
Google’s intervention coincides with the indefinite delay to the UK government’s Online Safety Bill, which sought to shift responsibility for protecting online audiences on to the shoulders of the websites and social networks they inhabit.