What the exam asks
In Paper 1, you may be given a static screenshot of a web page (like a charity homepage or crowd-funding campaign) or a social media thread. Because it is printed on paper, you must interpret what the whole screen communicates to its target audience (Criterion A) and analyse and evaluate its digital features—such as navigation bars, hyperlinks, buttons and user comments—as deliberate authorial choices that guide a reader’s pathway and build trust or urgency (Criterion B).
In the individual oral or HL essay, you can study a collection of shorter electronic texts as a non-literary body of work. To follow IB rules, every text in a body of work must share one text type and one authorship—for example, a series of posts from a single influencer, activist or institutional campaign account.
Core ideas
1. Conventions of web pages and social media
Electronic texts are multimodal (combining written text, still or moving images, and layout) and interactive (designed for the user to click, scroll, share or reply).
| Feature | How it works (Analysis) | Why creators use it (Evaluation) |
|---|---|---|
| Navigation bar & visual hierarchy | Menus at the top, bold headings, and ‘above the fold’ banners (what is visible before scrolling). | Establishes institutional credibility and directs the user’s eye immediately to the core message or offer. |
| Hyperlinks & Call-to-Action (CTA) buttons | Underlined link text or high-contrast buttons (e.g. ‘Donate Now’, ‘Sign the Petition’). | Turns passive reading into immediate action; hyperlinks also outsource proof to external sources, building authority. |
| Hashtags & @mentions | #Topic or @Username tags embedded in captions or at the end of posts. | Categorizes the text into a wider public conversation, signals group identity, and widens reach through algorithms. |
| Metrics & timestamps | View counts, likes, reposts, ‘verified’ badges and time markers (‘2h ago’). | Creates social proof (the persuasive cue that if thousands approve, the message must be important and trustworthy) and immediacy. |
| Embedded media | Video thumbnails with a play icon, audio waveforms, or image carousels. | Promises sensory or emotional engagement while keeping the user on the page. |
2. The networked audience, influence and authenticity
Unlike a print reader, a networked audience is connected to the creator and to each other. Creators, influencers and campaigns exploit this by fostering a parasocial relationship—an illusion of face-to-face friendship built through direct address (‘you guys’), behind-the-scenes photographs, informal register and emojis.
- Manufactured authenticity: Influencers and brands use ‘raw’ aesthetics (unfiltered selfies, lowercase typing, admissions of vulnerability) to disguise commercial persuasion or ideological messaging as honest peer advice.
- Misinformation and echo chambers: Misinformation is false or misleading content; an echo chamber is an online space where people mostly see views they already hold. Electronic texts often prioritize outrage or emotional confirmation over balance. Sensationalist syntax (all-caps, rhetorical questions, urgent imperatives) and selective cropping of images encourage rapid sharing before fact-checking. To evaluate a post, ask who made it, what evidence or source it shows, and what a crop or a missing date might hide.
- Co-creation through comments and shares: When a Paper 1 stimulus includes the comment section or quote-posts, treat them as part of the text’s meaning. Replies can validate the creator’s message (showing community alignment) or subvert and parody it, shifting the text’s tone for subsequent readers.