Is the Internet Loosening Our Grip on the Truth?

By the title of this article alone, my attention was peaked as a reader. It seemed like a relatively new and controversial topic, one worth discussing and paying attention to now more than ever.

Today, the vast majority of people’s primary source of information about the world around us, current events, and general facts is the internet. Especially with this past election, everyone jumped to their phones or laptops to get the cliff notes from a speech, to fact-check a candidate, or, on election day, to stay updated on which candidate won which states as well as their growing number of electoral votes.

Now most Americans understand that many things posted on the internet may not be completely or at all true. However it is quite a difficult distinction to make in the moment you are reading “news”, especially if the thing that may not be true is exactly what you wanted to hear. Many people like to pretend that they are reading only facts whenever what they are reading lines up well with what they want to believe.

All in all, I would say that I agree with the argument that this article is making. It is becoming increasingly harder to find unbiased and untweaked news online, and I do not see this issue getting resolved in the future. If anything, it will likely get worse. Now more than ever, it is important to try and think about the things you read online before accepting them unconditionally. Learning to question things that you are being told are facts is becoming an increasingly more valuable skill to have.