Understanding young Singaporeans' gathering and credibility assessments of online sexual health information

Abstract

There is little literature which explains how young people seek and assess online sexual health information. Also, there is still a gap in understanding the part that media literacy plays when young people sieve through the myriad sources for credible information. With the plethora of information online and the rise of user-generated content, this comprehension of their manner of assessment serves to be increasingly pertinent. Given this milieu, the main focus of this paper is to understand the influences and thought processes of young people in seeking sexual health information. In December 2008, the study recruited 36 Singaporeans between the ages of 17 and 21 to participate in a self-confrontation interview study, using Camtasia studio. Although the interview sessions indicate that young people are equipped with basic media literacy skills, there is still a gap in youths¿ information seeking. Also, often, youths become absorbed in only gathering information that they do not stop to evaluate them. Therefore, youths still need to be equipped with strong knowledge structures, to be in control of their locus in looking for information, and to continually upgrade their skills through frequent use. In order to aid these youths, the school curriculum needs to move from the trend of functional media literacy to that of critical literacy.