But How Do You Know?

Have you ever considered what you know and how you know it?  I guess my initial answer would be…I don’t know! But seriously, after spending some time considering my answer I would say I know what I know because I trust my sources. From childhood we’re taught to believe our parents, teachers, police and other people of authority. Now that we’re adults we have the knowledge we need to contemplate our sources information thoroughly and decide for ourselves if the information we have been given is fact or fiction.

Everyday online news outlets compete to bring us the latest news stories. Everyone wants to be able to say they have ‘breaking news’ or are ‘first to report’, but reality is, perhaps the reader just wants the source to be correct and not first.  You must consider the source when digesting information. Is the news organization reputable?  Are you familiar with the writer? Does the writer cleverly sneak in his or her opinion and pass it off as fact?  Those are all legitimate things to consider, especially when the story is new a still developing. I’m not saying all developing news stories online have some form of fictitious facts, but it’s best to be alert as readers of social media writers and bloggers.

While doing my daily check-in with Facebook today, I learned the annual rankings of the Top 50 Historically Black Colleges and University was released this morning.  My friend on Facebook alerted his followers that our school, Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University tied at number 23 with the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore. Since I trust my friend, also considered my source in this situation, I can consider the ranking to be true. However, as a reader my curiosity got the best of me and I continued to search for the original source, also known as my sources, source. After a quick Google search I was able to find the full ranking list on the U.S. News & World Report website, the originator of the story. 

While I did believe my original source, it was nice to know that I could confirm the story quickly with the stories originator. Still, we have to keep in the back of our minds that not all sources on social media sites are credible.  Since there are no police on the World Wide Web to announce the authenticity of each story, it’s up to us as readers discern what we’re reading.  It’s key to remember that if we’re conflicted about the aspects of a story, we must seek additional outlets in order to come to an educated conclusion about the information. While we are only readers, we do have the right to investigate and even challenge writers on their choice of words and authority.  Bottom line is, don’t believe everything you see or read online. Consider the source before you can firmly say what you know you know.