The Information You Consume
Fake news. We've all heard the term. We've all used the term too, whether it was in jest or otherwise. So why is it important? What's the big deal if people aren't getting all the correct information? It wont hurt anyone, right? Wrong. There's arguably nothing more important than having accurate information. Without correct facts, change will never happen. If people don't know what horrors are going on in the world, they won't be able to make any changes. If someone doesn't know that there's a problem, they can't try and fix it.
It's incredibly important that everyone confirms the news that they hear, and to be honest, it isn't all that difficult to do. The first step, read more than just the headline. Headlines can be incredibly misleading, even if the facts in the actually article are accurate.
Here's the scenario: Martha is cruising Facebook, sharing minion memes and saving recipes for later (even though she's never going to use them. Get real with yourself, Martha). While checking her news feed, she comes across an article that a friend shared. Being a busy woman, she doesn't spend the time to check the source or even read the article in its entirety, she just reads the title: Eating Ice Cream Can Make You Drown.
Now since Martha didn't open the article, she didn't realize that only a portion of the title was visible on the Facebook post. The real article title is: Eating Ice Cream Can Make You Drown? Correlation Versus Causation Explained. But alas, Martha only saw what she saw. Later that day, she tells a friend what she learned. Since Martha is a generally very trustworthy person, her friend takes her word for it. Then that friend tells a friend, and so on. Before long the entire PTA has outlawed ice cream because they don't want their kids to drown. If only Martha would have spent a little more time researching and a little less time posting pictures of little yellow cartoon characters with cute sayings about coffee, little Johnny would be able to have an ice cream cone every now and then. Poor Johnny, all because Martha jumped to conclusions and spread them.
The second step in ensuring that the source of the information is valid. If the name of the website is ILikeBigButtsAndICannotLie.com, it probably isn't the most reliable source for the goings on in Syria. On the other hand, just because information comes from a well known publication (USA Today, Huffington Post, CNN, Etc) doesn't mean that it's accurate. It never hurts to do a quick google search and find some other reputable sources to compare with.
For me personally, I would say my number one source of news is reddit. The thing that I like about reddit is the variety of topics that you can find information on, from many different sources. As far as other sources, I think that Facebook and Buzzfeed news would also be on the list, although I don't trust either site fully. For me a big reason that these three sources are my "go-to's" is convenience. Call me a stereotypical millennial, but I spend a whole lot of time on my smart phone. Reddit, Facebook, and Buzzfeed are all really user friendly on mobile, and that's a big plus for me.
It's incredibly important that everyone confirms the news that they hear, and to be honest, it isn't all that difficult to do. The first step, read more than just the headline. Headlines can be incredibly misleading, even if the facts in the actually article are accurate.
Here's the scenario: Martha is cruising Facebook, sharing minion memes and saving recipes for later (even though she's never going to use them. Get real with yourself, Martha). While checking her news feed, she comes across an article that a friend shared. Being a busy woman, she doesn't spend the time to check the source or even read the article in its entirety, she just reads the title: Eating Ice Cream Can Make You Drown.
Now since Martha didn't open the article, she didn't realize that only a portion of the title was visible on the Facebook post. The real article title is: Eating Ice Cream Can Make You Drown? Correlation Versus Causation Explained. But alas, Martha only saw what she saw. Later that day, she tells a friend what she learned. Since Martha is a generally very trustworthy person, her friend takes her word for it. Then that friend tells a friend, and so on. Before long the entire PTA has outlawed ice cream because they don't want their kids to drown. If only Martha would have spent a little more time researching and a little less time posting pictures of little yellow cartoon characters with cute sayings about coffee, little Johnny would be able to have an ice cream cone every now and then. Poor Johnny, all because Martha jumped to conclusions and spread them.
The second step in ensuring that the source of the information is valid. If the name of the website is ILikeBigButtsAndICannotLie.com, it probably isn't the most reliable source for the goings on in Syria. On the other hand, just because information comes from a well known publication (USA Today, Huffington Post, CNN, Etc) doesn't mean that it's accurate. It never hurts to do a quick google search and find some other reputable sources to compare with.
For me personally, I would say my number one source of news is reddit. The thing that I like about reddit is the variety of topics that you can find information on, from many different sources. As far as other sources, I think that Facebook and Buzzfeed news would also be on the list, although I don't trust either site fully. For me a big reason that these three sources are my "go-to's" is convenience. Call me a stereotypical millennial, but I spend a whole lot of time on my smart phone. Reddit, Facebook, and Buzzfeed are all really user friendly on mobile, and that's a big plus for me.
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