This quote from Louis Gray, a blogger I met a couple of years ago at South By Southwest, echoes my thoughts about what and how we're choosing the information we're taking in...
Still, with news — and reaction to news — moving more quickly than ever, says Louis Gray, a Silicon Valley blogger who chronicles the ever-increasing speed of computers and companies, "it is safe to assume the public does not know about many top stories or issues, and cannot be assumed to have enough data to ascertain truth versus spin, and right versus wrong."The questions become, how much is too much, how fast is too fast, and what is our breaking point, where we throw up our hands and turn to the sources that only amuse and entertain us?
As a result, Gray says, "people are intentionally filtering the information they consume through sources they agree with, or are turning instead to entertainment and idle-time activities, becoming less informed."
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The internet has become a source for news and articles but at the same time it can be unreliable if someone is unable to determine if they are credible or not. For example, wikipedia used to be the best encyclopedia on the internet but over the years with its ability to allow users to change or "correct" additions, the information has become unreliable. I find it most unfortunate that we have come to rely on the internet and its vast storage of information. We never had this issue when we went to libraries. There was a defined line between fiction and nonfiction, journals and articles, reference materials and etc. We could be confident in the material we found and its reliability. But now they are becoming more of an inconvenience for some people. Unable to get to a library, the space the books take up, the continuing editions/revisions and the length of time it takes for the works to be published and distributed all have become factors. People would rather stay at home and sit in front of a computer to read the news.
An interesting concept from a video game "Mirror's Edge," two sisters are talking and one asks "Don't you ever read the news?" Surprising enough she shakes her head and replies, "It's not news anymore; it's advertising." In a way, I feel that is how the internet news is becoming. Editors are able to pick and choose what they put online and sometimes these articles aren't related to our daily lives.
There is so much information on the internet that it is impossible to go through it all and digest it. And with the continuing flow of breaking news, there is always being more added. I don't know about some people but that breaking point is on the horizon and I am on the edge of giving up on keeping up with the news.
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