Social Media and Fake News

Masterclass

We will work with you to deliver this activity in a COVID compliant way

NEWS FLASH: Raw milk provides miracle cure for Staffordshire teen!

Have you ever heard of raw milk? It’s milk that has not been heat treated – it’s creamy and rich and said to have many health benefits. Dave and Laura Hide inherit a farm in Staffordshire and decide to build a milk shack by the entrance to sell raw milk directly to the public. They know nothing about how to promote the new business concept and need help from their teenage children Jenny and Luke, to promote the product to the surrounding community.

Social media seems to be an easy and cheap way to raise awareness, but which platforms should they use and what should they say?

This masterclass challenges students to research social media platforms and identify appropriate platforms and messages for the Hide family to promote their new milk shack. When Luke decides to exaggerate the health benefits of raw milk students will be introduced to the concept of fake news – what’s the harm in a little white lie? You will be challenged with some scenario planning, looking at the consequences of exaggerating the health benefits of raw milk and how this may impact on the family business.

Key facts

Location
: Off campus; On campus; Online

Duration: Full day

Capacity: 60

Key Stage: Key Stage 3; Key Stage 4; Key Stage 5

Gatsby benchmarks: 4. Linking curriculum learning to careers; 7. Encounters with further and higher education

Example programme

10.00 to 10.15 – Welcome and overview of Activity

Students will be introduced to the Hide family and their idea to sell raw milk directly to the public. Benefits of social media as a communication platform will be discussed and the concept of fake news will be introduced

10.15 to 12.00 – Masterclass Mini Lecture/Interactive workshops

Social Media Manager:

Businesses are increasingly using social media to communicate with customers. For many small, traditional family businesses, this is a new and affordable way of keeping in touch with customers and promoting goods and services.

Students will be split into groups and each group will be assigned a social media platform

Facebook
TikTok
YouTube
Instagram
Snapchat

The teams are challenged to create an infographic promoting the unique features and benefits of their assigned social media platform and why this would be a good choice for the Hide family to raise awareness of their milk shack. They will develop key messages and content for their platform and findings will be presented back to the group.

12.00 to 12.30 – Lunch (Staff and Students to bring own lunch)

12.30 to 2.15 – Masterclass Mini Lecture/Interactive Workshops

Fake News

Luke Hide knows all about the claims of health benefits associated with drinking raw milk and has decided to make up some harmless stories to help generate interest in the farm’s milk shack. He doesn’t drink raw milk, but there’s no harm in saying that he does and that it contributed to him making a full recovery from Sepsis recently is there? Is this fake news and what’s the harm in saying this?

Students will be split into groups to do some scenario planning – they will consider the claims that Luke intends to make via social media and the consequences for the family business.

Findings will be presented back to the group

2.15 to 2.30 – Feedback and Departure. Career pathways in Business, Enterprise and Digital Marketing.

Programme Options:

The programme content can be adapted for delivery from years 9 to 13.