#nowtrending: critical library instruction through the lens of influencers and social media
Channel: Critical Librarianship & Pedagogy Symposium
Date: 2020-09-24

(Youtube Captions Provided)
Presenters: Jesus Espinoza & Naomi Binnie, University of Michigan

Due to their popularity on social media, influencers act as a filter through which many of us observe and experience the world. When influencers give health and wellness advice or when they advertise products, do audiences critically assess the information that they are receiving? With this question in mind we decided to incorporate content from health and wellness influencers into library instruction sessions and online information literacy modules, along with more traditional popular and scholarly sources. In the classroom we encouraged students to lead the conversations in determining the usefulness and relevance of these sources. By doing so, we breathed new and relevant life into discussions of fake news, authority, bias, and critically assessing information through this added lens of influencers and social media. We will discuss the processes and challenges of incorporating influencer content into in-person and digital lessons and how we empowered students while engaging with the ACRL frames. This program will be relevant to those interested in library instruction, information literacy, and increasing student engagement and participation. This session relates to critical pedagogy because we deconstruct traditional concepts of authority and expertise. We introduce alternative sources to discussions of information literacy, and we discuss the value of the voices and perspectives they may bring into a given topic while also acknowledging their limitations. Ultimately, we seek to bring students into the scholarly conversations by considering and acknowledging expertise outside of traditional conceptions of authority.