Don't Believe Everything You Read!

With there being so much information available via social networks and the internet, I can see how it can become difficult for people to decide between credible and non-credible sources. Just because there are so many sources of information available, we have to remember that all all websites are definitely not trust worthy. This is something that I always teach my students and I gave them a good example of why they should always check their sources. Teenagers are always quick to believe a lot of what they hear, whether if it's a rumor about another student, a teacher, or pretty much anything. The one thing that I instructed them to do is stop and think about who is the source that you are getting the information from, and who else have you asked for verification of accuracy? Nine times out of 10, if you hear three different versions of a story then obviously all of the pieces of the story haven't been put together. Again, it's the same concept with the internet. When a big story happens, the first few hours are basically a lot of different facts that are placed in an article. It's not until a few hours later, the pieces of the puzzle are put together and the story is accurate. One of the biggest things I mention to my students is to be careful of certain websites. Typically for news I read the USA Today, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution an the New York Times. These are credible news sources because these businesses have been around for a long time and the best of the best news reporters and anchors report their stories there. Websites that end in .edu, .gov. or journals from a databases are traditionally accurate. In terms of entertainment magazines, you never really know what is true or not just because the entertainment business is so unpredictable because of celebrities and their lives. When you are dealing with celebrities you have to be very careful with what you read because again....it's based on the world of entertainment which is always a unpredictable subject. Data Smog is an interesting term from the article because it sums up the world we live in. "It refers to the idea that too much information can create a barrier in our lives. This data smog is produced by the amount of information, the speed at which it comes to us from all directions, the need to make fast decisions, and the feeling of anxiety that we are making decisions without having ALL the information that is available or that we need." We all have had data smog in our lives and it's very important that we don't get caught up in it because it can crowd our minds with information which is not true. That's why it's always important to check your sources!!!