COMMUNICATION LITERACY AND MOBILIZATION OF REFORM AGENDA IN THAI SOCIETY IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Abstract

The research aimed to explore the communication literacy level of the subjectsand their attitude and behaviorthat reflects digital citizenship, as well as to seek a guideline for promoting communication literacy for communicationreform in Thai society in the digital age. In this survey study, the questionnaires were given to the samples, which were400 residents of Bangkok aged 18 and above, and the data were analyzed by descriptive statistics in terms of frequency, percentage, average. The findings showed that majority of the subjects or 54.5 percent had moderate communication literacy, while only 14.75 percent of the subjects were at a high level. The subjects showed the lowest level of improper, negative online media usage; the most found case was excessive usage of online media that led to poor health, poor performance at work or school, and lack of face-to-face communication with their families. As for the digital citizenship attitude and behavior, the subjects had low engagement in social investigation and expected the media to play a greater role in investigating the society and fostering intelligence among the people. About promotion of communication literacy in the digital age, most of the subjects demanded communication literacy teaching in schools and universities, and required network building in monitoring media quality and communicating with creativity and responsibility. Thus, the most important society reform agenda for Thailand is to promote communication literacy for the development of digital citizenship in the democratic society, focusing on encouraging creative and responsible opinion expression.