Background reading · English
How media texts work
Every media text is made by someone, for someone, for a reason. Learn the key questions to ask about any ad, post or news story.
A media text is anything made to share a message with lots of people through a medium such as TV, radio, newspapers, websites, apps or social media. A cereal box is a media text. So is a weather report, a music video, a bus-stop poster and a post from your favourite gamer.
Four questions for any media text
Digital features
Online media texts add features that print cannot. Hyperlinks take you somewhere else. Embedded videos start playing. Share buttons, likes and comments invite you to join in. Menus guide where you go next. Each feature is designed to keep you looking, clicking or sharing.
Feeds choose for you
When you scroll a feed, you are not seeing everything that has been posted. A computer program called an algorithm picks what to show you, often based on what you watched, liked or paused on before. That is why two friends can open the same app and see completely different things. Researchers who study social media point out that people can start to worry about being invisible if the algorithm doesn't show their posts, so they post in ways they think the feed will reward.
Posts can last and travel
Things put online can stay there a long time, be copied, be searched for, and be seen by people you never imagined, such as a future teacher or employer. Researcher danah boyd calls this the invisible audience: you can't always know who is watching. That is a good reason to think before you post, and to check before you share someone else's post.
Why it matters
Media texts are not windows onto the world. They are more like pictures someone has framed. Asking who framed it, and why, is the first step to being a smart reader and a fair creator.
Sources and further reading
Written for Kōkiri Learn students in our own words. Check facts against the sources.