diff --git a/backend/account/views.py b/backend/account/views.py
index 4ceda49..18aa3d8 100644
--- a/backend/account/views.py
+++ b/backend/account/views.py
@@ -339,5 +339,5 @@ class NotificationListAPIView(APIView):
         serializer = self.serializer_class(paginated_notifs, many=True)
         return paginator.get_paginated_response(serializer.data)
     
-    def str_to_bool(val):
-        return True if val and val == 'true' else False
+    def str_to_bool(self, val):
+        return True if val and val == 'read' else False