The Internet is the New Wild West

The other day I saw the State Farm commercial of the woman who says, “They can’t put anything on the Internet that isn’t true.” The guy next to her responds by saying, “Where did you hear that?” They both respond at the same time and say, “The Internet.”

Since the Internet is fairly new and it is always changing it has become somewhat like the Wild West.

As a college student I can honestly say that the Internet is a great and helpful tool. But just like most things in life we must use it with caution.

I don’t think I am taking a huge leap when I say that most adults and young adults know that everything on the Internet isn’t true.

The sky is the limit when it comes to the Internet. It has become a sea of endless information. But just because it’s there it doesn’t mean its true and vise versa. As Internet users we have to use our own judgment to see if the information is believable and it comes from a reliable source.

Since anyone with Internet access can post anything they want we must be cautious and find reliable sources of information.

Social media sites are very popular on the Internet and just like anything else it has its pros and cons.

Some of the pros may include keep up with their friends, family, sports, news, etc. through Twitter and Facebook.

On my Twitter account I follow friends, colleagues and news networks (ESPN, CNN, AP, etc.). I like to the have the convenience of having them all in one spot where I can easily find them and get the latest news.

One of the biggest down sides to Twitter is sometimes information that you get is inaccurate. For example, every now and then Twitter will go viral with the announcement of a death of a celebrity. Bill Cosby, Morgan Freeman and many other celebrities have allegedly died when in fact they haven’t.

If you follow the right people or news organizations you can depend on reliable information.

On my twitter account, I keep up with the NFL world by following ‘NFL: Around the League’, which is an account handled through the NFL Network and ‘Adam Schefter’ (an NFL insider for ESPN and the NFL Network). They haven’t once fed false information and they always give me the latest news before anyone else.

The bottom line is that not everything on the Internet is true but that doesn’t mean that it’s all false. The Internet is constantly changing and while it can’t be completely accurate we just have to use our best judgment.

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