The youth social media literacy inventory: development and validation using item response theory in the US

ABSTRACT Social media has opened new doors of opportunities and risks for youth. Potential risks include exposure to harmful content, engagement with strangers, or unwanted consequences from irresponsible or naive use. Social media literacy has been proposed as a way to mitigate such risks and promote positive ways of social media engagement. This paper aimed to develop a comprehensive Youth Social Media Literacy Inventory (YSMLI) to objectively assess young adolescents’ (9–13 years) knowledge and skills in the context of social media use. The development process included four consecutive steps: 1) an in-depth review of the literature to identify core competencies and domains of social media literacy, 2) creation of a large item pool that assesses these core competencies within six domains (advertising, cyberbullying, privacy, news, phishing, and media balance), 3) expert review and cognitive pretesting with youth, and 4) empirical validation of the final 90-item pool using item response theory based on a sample of n = 306 youth participants in the US. The final item bank is well-fitting, reliable, and valid, offering scales with varying lengths for different purposes including domain-specific assessment and parallel testing. IMPACT SUMMARY Prior State of Knowledge Social media literacy has been proposed as a way to mitigate risks and maximize the benefits of social media use. Yet, there are currently no objectives and validated measures for assessing young children’s social media literacy knowledge and skills. Novel Contributions We developed and validated the Youth Social Media Literacy Inventory, a 90-item bank, that can be used to objectively assess youth’s social media literacy. Due to its excellent psychometric properties, it allows scholars to create scales of varying length and for different research purposes. Practical Implications Educators and researchers can use the inventory to assess the effectiveness of social media literacy interventions; compare levels of social media literacy across groups, schools, or populations; and assess antecedents and consequences of social media literacy.