APATHY TO ACTION

Background: As we all know, over the past few years “Fake News” or stories andor hoaxes created to deliberately misinform or deceive readers, has increasingly became a problem. These stories are often shared on social media through click bait headlines and outlandish stories. Fabricated stories are then given legitimacy when shared by our friends and family, leading to an over-all distrust and confusion in news and reporting.

Challenge: Work with Huffington Post Teen, to create and spread a tool that will empower young people to feel confident that the news stories they are trustworthy and factual, giving them the ability to take actions to create the world they’d like to live in.

Objectives: Empower young people to be able to discern between real and “Fake News” and give them the tools that will help them navigate the world of online news stories and social media.

AUDIENCE RESEARCH

To take on such a large challenge we started by researching our target, Gen Z. (Individuals Born From 1997 On. As an estimated population of 60 million, they make up 25.9% of the U.S. population More than a quarter of older teens  say they know a lot about the fake news in general. However, much of their knowledge may come from social media sources. Nearly 60% of tween/teen members of Gen Z say that they learn about current events through social media. Gen Z craves security. According to Gartner Consumer and Culture Insights, the top worries among Gen Z are terrorism and violence.

Audience Segmentation

We broke up our audience into two main segments, Angels and Change Makers. Angels are individuals who are active participants in the world around them. They take a stand on political issues, climate change, and other world events. They are empowered by the stories they read and have discerning minds and the knowledge to understand the difference between real and fake news stories. Our second segment Change Makers, look up to Angels, they would like to become involved but don’t know where to start and what sources to trust.

CONSUMER JOURNEY

I created a consumer journey that shows how each segment interacts with the news. For Change Makers the tool Tool Kit will come into their lives when they have interacted with news online. They will encounter the Fake News Tool kit on social media, while searching for news, and as banner headlines on news website. After finding the Tool Kit, it help them improve their confidence and ultimately their involvement in causes they are passionate about.

FAKE NEWS TOOL KIT

Pitch Deck

Project Collaborators - Roxie Xie, John Holliday-Stewart