Scroll through your social media feed for just five minutes and you’ll see it: clickbait headlines or images, rage-bait videos designed to spike outrage, and slick ads that don’t look like ads at all. Social media has created a landscape where influence is constant, subtle, and often invisible. A makeup tutorial turns into a product placement. A meme about the election is actually produced by a partisan group. A viral video has been edited to provoke a particular emotional response.
This is the world our students are navigating. They’re swimming in content that blurs the line between personal expression, advertising, and political messaging. For them, influencer isn’t just a career path, it’s a cultural force shaping what they buy, how they see themselves, and even how they understand and participate in our democracy.
That’s why it’s worth pausing to consider two key questions:
- Who influences you?
- Where and when does that influence happen?
For most adults, the answer might be a trusted journalist or a celebrity whose opinions we value. Influence can creep in while we scroll before bed, listen during our commute, or watch a clip that everyone in the group chat is sharing. The same is true for our students. Recognizing this is empowering because it means we can notice when we are being influenced and how. That awareness is the very foundation of media literacy, and it’s something we can and should teach explicitly.
The media we consume doesn’t just shape our playlists and shopping carts. It influences our politics, our voting habits, and the policies that govern our communities. When we ignore this, we risk raising young people who can be easily swayed by whatever is most viral rather than what is most true.
As social studies teachers, we have a natural entry point. Our subject is already about power, participation, and the forces that shape society. Media literacy skills like asking “Who created this message? Why? Who benefits? Who might be harmed?” fit seamlessly into our goals.
At its core, media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act using all forms of communication.1 It’s about equipping students to recognize influence, question motives, and use their own voices responsibly—whether studying the past or scrolling in the present.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION AND THE POWER OF MEDIA
In the 1700s, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine were “trending.” The American Revolution wasn’t just fought with muskets and cannons; it was fought with media messages as well.
Take Franklin’s famous Join or Die cartoon.
Originally published in 1754, well before the American Revolution, it became one of the first widely recognized American political cartoons. By the revolution, it had been revived and shared, essentially “meme-ified,” as a rallying cry for independence as seen in the Gadsden flag: “Don’t Tread on Me.” Simple, visual, and emotionally charged, it functioned much like the shareable memes of today.
Then there’s Paine’s Common Sense. Published in January 1776, it sold more than 100,000 copies in just a few months, a staggering reach in a population of only a few million.2 In effect, Common Sense was “trending” in the colonies. Some historians call it the first American “viral post.”3 Paine’s words didn’t just inform; they provoked, they influenced. They reframed the conversation from eventual reconciliation with Britain to independence, using fiery, radical language—and colonists responded in droves.
Both Franklin and Paine were hugely influential. They understood their audiences, crafted compelling messages, and leveraged the media channels of their time, including a system of communication established by colonial leaders to coordinate opposition to British colonial policies called Committees of Correspondence. Colonists didn’t just read Common Sense; they discussed it in taverns, reprinted it in newspapers, and let it guide their political choices. The parallels to today’s viral trends are striking. And it worked. Common Sense “influenced.” “I find Common Sense is working a wonderful change ... in the minds of many men,” George Washington observed in 1776.4
MEDIA LITERACY IN SOCIAL STUDIES
From Franklin’s cartoon to Paine’s pamphlet to today’s TikTok reels, media has shaped and continues to shape public opinion and political action, but some differences stand out. Today, a goal for many social media influencers is to be able to capitalize on their reach—to generate revenue by influencing followers to buy something, whether it's their own merch or the latest skincare product. Paine wasn’t hawking products or lifestyle brands, but he was attempting to get readers of the 18th century to “buy into” his ideas. Just like today’s influencers craft content to build trust and persuade their audiences, 18th-century writers, printers, and political thinkers used the media tools of their time to inform, inspire, and mobilize.
Today, “talking heads” on 24-hour news networks and popular podcasters aren’t always providing “straight” news. Instead, they are commentating, offering their opinion and analysis on current events or news stories. Straight news is reporting based on journalistic standards that focuses on verified facts and events without opinion, emotional language, or attempts to persuade the audience. Neither Franklin or Paine were journalists, but they used their platforms to share their perspective. In both eras, the line between information and persuasion can blur. Whether it’s a colonial pamphlet or a modern podcast, the goal is often the same: to shape how people think, feel, and act. From newspapers to Substack newsletters, from pamphlets to Instagram stories—the medium and purpose of many media messages might have shifted—but the core dynamic is similar: Using media to persuade and influence isn’t new.
That’s where social studies teachers come in. We can help students see that:
- Influencers of today and “influencers” of the past operate with similar persuasive strategies, although the primary purpose might be different (sell vs. persuade).
- The same media literacy concepts apply: Who created this? For what purpose? How does it make me feel? What techniques are being used? Who is left out of the narrative? What impact might this media have? Who benefits from this media? What are the economics behind this? Who financially benefits from this?
- The implications haven’t changed much. Messages can mobilize, divide, or misinform. Understanding them is essential for democratic participation.
When we teach Franklin and Paine alongside contemporary influencers, podcasters, and political commentators within the media landscape, we’re studying history, but we’re also modeling and practicing critical civics skills. Students begin to see that analyzing a political meme on Instagram uses the same toolkit as analyzing Join or Die, a cartoon from over 270 years ago. Evaluating a viral post from our favorite social media influencer requires similar skills as evaluating Common Sense.
Designed to encourage inquiry and engagement, the resource “Thomas Paine’s ‘Common Sense’: A Call to Revolution” blends historical thinking with civic and digital literacy as students examine how colonists accessed information, compare media influence then and now, and analyze excerpts of Common Sense from Patriot and Loyalist perspectives. Students evaluate Paine’s emotional appeals and persuasive strategies while reading excerpts of Common Sense, considering parallels to today’s influencers and attention economy. With discussion questions and a media-making extension activity, this resource equips students to recognize emotional manipulation in the past and present and empowers them to respond thoughtfully in today’s digital world.
As educators, we can help students see that some 18th-century media was about selling ideas, not products—while today’s influencers often do both. That difference makes media literacy all the more vital in helping students think critically about who’s influencing them and why. Our goal is to empower students to connect past and present, to recognize influence wherever it appears, and to use their voices thoughtfully in response.
WHY IT MATTERS
We live in an age where an influencer’s endorsement can swing votes, where misinformation can trend globally in hours, and where political campaigns blur into lifestyle branding. But this is also an age where students can publish their own podcasts, design persuasive graphics, or produce fact-checking videos that reach real audiences.
The same skills that let them see through rage-bait also allow them to participate meaningfully in civic life. By embedding media literacy into social studies, we give students not only some historical context for better understanding how influence works today, but also the practical skills to navigate and shape our contemporary media landscape.
So the next time you teach Franklin, Paine, or the Revolutionary Era media, don’t just leave it in the past. Ask students to compare it to the influencers on their feed today. Challenge them to identify persuasive strategies, evaluate credibility, and reflect on their own susceptibility to influence.
Whether it’s 1776 or the 21st century, the questions remain the same: Who is influencing us, and what will we do about it?
ADDITIONAL TEACHING RESOURCES
- Can You Trust Influencers on YouTube? | Above the Noise (PBS LearningMedia)
- How Do You Feel about the Design Tricks That Social Media Apps Use? | Above the Noise (PBS LearningMedia)
- Big Tech’s Battle for Our Attention (Brain Craft/PBS)
- Why You Must Know Who Your Influences Are (Keller Institute)
- Courageous RI Curriculum and Conversations (Courageous RI)
1 National Association for Media Literacy Education. “Media Literacy Defined.” What Is Media Literacy? Accessed September 8, 2025. https://namle.org/resources/media-literacy-defined
2https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/thomas-paine-the-original-publishing-viral-superstar-2
3 Ibid.
4 https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-04-02-0009