WAM?! (Wait A Minute?!) is a community event that fosters discussion and education around the rising concern of misinformation or “fake news” and the lack of civil discourse seen in social and other media. The activities and discussions are geared toward learning how to slow down news consumption, actually reading the article, checking the source, and being smarter about what to share online.
With so much competition in creating buzz-worthy news, some are resorting to being first rather than being right or even tweaking the facts a bit to push a personal agenda. Well, WAM?! is a project that aims to prepare students to be savvy consumers of information.
It seemed like the best way to visualize this was to take a cue from the name, “WAM?!” (an onomatopoeia used to express the sound of a forcible impact). Naturally, it felt like it needed to be loud visually. This needed to hit with enough force that it jolts us into thinking twice before accepting everything presented to us. Plus, it needed to be fun!
Credits:
Collaboration with Anchorage Youth Vote.