TakingITGlobal

Schools must acknowledge and be able to educate the students to differentiate between legitimate and illegitimate information available on social media. Due to the mass number of people on social media from various backgrounds, the information that appears on social media is diverse and personalized. It is necessary for educators to help students determine the validity of the information given by individuals and organizations, considering that some of it indirectly promotes their biased opinions and agendas. Cities should use social media as a means of connecting with youth, both to spread climate awareness about what cities are doing and also to hear from youth. We are living in a digital era. Thus, cities must use social media to increase youth participation in public matters. Through this communication, the youth can also be made aware of what their cities are doing to combat climate change. Using traditional media such as printed newspapers or televised news fails to communicate with youth on their mediums, which are digital, leaving a gap between policy makers and youth. Complexities Schools must acknowledge the limits of social media. Not every country has the same type of social media, making it hard to have an international dialogue; China, for instance, uses Weibo and WeChat, whereas students in other places more commonly use WhatsApp, Instagram, and Twitter. Some countries also heavily censor media, preventing people from accessing certain knowledge contrary to government ideologies. Further, citizens have varying access to social media based on their access to technology, their culture, and peer group, and people of different ages use different types of social media. As a result, there is no one way to communicate with everyone, and it is difficult to create cross-generational conversations. Additionally, trends in social media are always changing, which makes keeping people engaged in addressing climate change difficult. By understanding the limits of using social media, we can learn how to use it more effectively to engage diverse communities and raise awareness about climate change. 10

• Cover