General approaches of adults on new media literacy: a national survey study

Abstract

The study aims to examine the new media literacy levels of adults living in Turkey and North Cyprus in terms of various demographic levels by administrating the New Media Literacy Scale (NMLS). The NMLS comprises four factors: Functional Consumption, Critical Consumption, Functional Prosumption, and Critical Prosumption. Previous research studies have not been done on a national scale and new media literacy emerges as a need in every field that concerns society. According to the results from the study group consisting of 2927 individuals, the scores of the NMLS are above the average. The new media literacy level of young adults is higher than the other ages. As the education level of the participants increases, the level of new media literacy increases on the whole scale and on the sub-dimensions of functional consumption and functional production. In the critical consumption sub-dimension, graduate and undergraduate graduates have higher results than high school graduates. According to the income level, the scores of the high-income levels are high in all sub-dimensions and in the total score of the scale. The region of residence is an important variable since the new media literacy level is higher in the western regions of the country with a high population density and developed service sector. The NMLS of the participants did not differ significantly by gender and by marital status. The most frequently used media tools and the most frequently followed subject areas in digital media are discussed in descriptive results about the use of new media.