YOUNG ADULTS SEEKING, ENCOUNTERING, AND EVALUATING SEXUAL HEALTH INFORMATION ONLINE

Abstract

Although earlier studies have examined the online sexual health information seeking and evaluation skills of young adults, the majority of them are at least five years old and few have utilized inclusive, LGBTQ+-friendly language in their data collection instruments. This online survey study aimed to fill these gaps in the literature by conducting a more up-to-date study incorporating inclusive language, with the goal of using these findings to support the improvement of information literacy instruction. The findings suggest that the most popular online health information evaluation strategies amongst young adults may be unreliable and, while this population may understand reliable methods for evaluating online information in an academic context, they appear to struggle to apply the same critical information evaluation skills to their everyday life information seeking, thus providing support for an argument towards improved and updated information literacy instruction.