Many of you are probably familiar with the sarcastic saying: “Of course everything on the internet is true.” Yes, even when typing this out, there’s a huge smirk from the back of my head screaming “NO!” Yet, the internet, in this case is social media, is still my main source for daily news. I know my actions are against my beliefs, but don’t tell me you are not a little bit guilty of this too?!
I spend at least four to five hours per day scrolling through different platforms of social media. I know it’s reaching the unhealthy level, but it has been extremely useful for me in so many ways: entertainment, educational, and professional as well. Despite the doubt of credibility, social media has become the main source of news online with more than 2.4 billion internet users, according to Forbes. BBC News, Fox News, The New York Times, and various other mainstream news outlets are all accessible on social media as well.
I can’t remember the last time I picked up a newspaper or at least going through all the headlines of the day. Paragraphs after paragraphs of text are just too much information for me to digest at the same time and they are not appealing to my attention. Social media can easily do the job in a more direct and effective way than traditional news sources can. Would you prefer reading hundreds of words describing how great was Prince Harry and Meaghan’s wedding or watching BBC’s live video of the wedding over Facebook? You tell me!
However, the question of reliability is still there, isn’t it? Just like you, I always wonder the possibilities of sponsored or biased content. That happens everywhere, though! As readers, we have to constantly be selective about what to believe. Not everything on the internet is true, but not all of them are fake either! As long as you are being critical and willing to do research, social media is definitely and open book for easy and fast news updates.
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