Wendy Vindell

Mrs.Thomas
UWRT 1104
1 Dec. 2016
Although I have not yet incorporated everything that I want to bring to my readers attention, I
decided to write my paper in a chronological sort of way. My thesis is one that asks whether or
not everything we read online is credible and what are peoples preferences in obtaining news
information. Im having a hard time putting these two concepts into one title/topic that will fit
them both. However, I have included (and plan to include other) visual representations of my
statements so my audience can follow along and understand what exactly I am trying to say.
Throughout my paper I plan to focus on different social media accounts that provide news
source to the public, and the publics own opinion on these differentiating methods and their
preference to each. I have learned that writing the paper is not the hard part. The hard part is
trying to type your ideas and researched knowledge in a way that your audience will understand
where you are coming from and what your purpose for your topic is. Questions that I have is;
Does my paper make sense so far? Is my purpose clear? Is it relatable? Is it useful/interesting?
Do you at any point feel confused or feel as if I should further explain or clarify something? Are
the graphs useful? .

Self-Evaluation

3.6 I demonstrate understanding of the subject I am talking about, however, It may not
be a solid 4 because I may lack some sort of explanation or credibility for some of the
the statements I have written.

4.0 Even in my reflection, I anticipate the readers knowledge, attitudes, and needs.
Throughout my paper Ive made sure to be as clear as possible and provide as many
examples and explanations as possible as to not confuse my reader.

3.0 Throughout the essay I make sure to add my own thoughts every here and there in
order to keep my voice in the paper. Im not sure if I make enough connections as I
should be, therefore I gave myself a 3

4.0 The first couple of paragraphs of my thesis, I am teaching my readers how to

evaluate websites and social media sites as well. I am teaching them new things and
trying to have them shift their way of thinking in order to understand my purpose and
where I am coming from.

4.0 I make sure to cite every and any statement or fact that I have researched and
incorporated into my thesis.

Who Feeds Us ?
In a society where everyone seems to be easily influenced by their surroundings,
and where technological advances are always taking place, one can ask if the internet
plays a role in influencing our knowledge. With the development of new social media
and the accessibility that can be found almost anywhere to the connection of wifi, could
we trust and believe in everything that we see online? And when it comes to politics, we
already believe that all politicians are liars, so does it matter how or where we obtain our
news from?
I believe that if I see something online, it must automatically be true. How so?
Well doesnt every website or article have to be reviewed before being published? As
much as I would like to put faith in this belief of mine, others say that not every website

you come face to face with is credible! In a cyber world full of millions of different
websites, there are different criteria for examining the credibility of a source. According
to University Library: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, sources with different
endings have different purposes. For example .edu, .org, .net, .com. When looking for a
traditional business or commercial site, .com is the way to go. When looking for
organizations, .net or .org would be the right choice while .edu would be left for higher
education institutions. However, just the ending does not fully determine accuracy.
When reading any article online, we must look for other criteria throughout the page as
well. We must make sure that the authors name is visible, that there is a published date
displayed, and make sure that information is being cited as well as how current the
dates are. Through our educational careers, we were already taught a couple of these
things. But now the bigger question is, how do we determine the accuracy of a social
media source ?
Everyone now in days, and I mean everyone, has at least one kind of social
media account. It could be facebook, twitter, snapchat, and maybe even instagram, and
by anyone I also mean any age range starting from as young as 10 years old to as old
as maybe 60 (My 60 year old grandmother spends her whole retired afternoons on
facebook). Many of us, teens in particular, spend a lot of our time switching over from
different accounts and tend to believe the news we read is reliable. Say for instance if
we see someone tweet that it is expected to snow tomorrow, we will believe it, retweet
it, and share the false information with someone else. Just like there are criterias in
determining credible websites, there are also criterias for determining the accuracy of a

piece of information found on social media. In Evaluating Information, an evaluating

information from social media article found in Johns Hopkins Sheridan Libraries and
University Museum, we are taught to look for a number of different things. When it
comes to twitter, an accurate tweeter (person behind the post) will normally publicize
their location with each tweet. You should check to see that each tweet comes from the
same location frequently, and maybe even research who the person is. Another tip is to
check who his/her followers are and who they follow as well. If they follow many known
people, it is possible that they are an accurate tweeter. You should also see who were
the first people to ever follow them. This is important with determining what is this
persons reliability and relevancy to others. When judging the overall context, you
should also check to see if the information can be corroborated from other sources.
However, if you are still unsure whether the source is from an actual account or maybe
from a fake account, the best advice is to not use the source at all.
Now that we can differentiate between different sources, my next question is
where are Americans obtaining their information from, for example their news source.
According to a research, Americans follow the news on a wide variety of devices. ("How
Americans Get Their News - American Press Institute.) The most utilized devices
include television (87%), laptops/computers (69%), radio (65%), and print newspapers
or magazines (61%). It was concluded that as the number of devices a person owns
increases, they are more likely to enjoy keeping up with the news and more likely to say
it is easier to keep up with it than it was five years ago. When it comes to what news

source they trust, research indicates that some people trust specific news source more
than others.

When it comes to social media, 62% of adults are getting their news there. (News
use across social media platforms 2016). The type of social media also matters when
determining where most people are getting their news information from.
Two-thirds of Facebook users (66%)
get news on the site, nearly six-in-ten
Twitter users (59%) get news on Twitter,
and seven-in-ten Reddit users get news
on that platform. On Tumblr, the figure sits
at 31%, while for the other five social
networking sites it is true of only about

one-fifth or less of their user bases. (News use across social media platforms 2016).
The issue with fake and bias news online is that is has become harder to spot and to
control. It has been reported that facebook had allowed fake news stories as sponsored
content (Facebooks fake news crisis and social media echo chambers). Some fake
news generators also pay to have their content appear on facebook because it brings
more clicks and ad revenue. Apart from news stories, an example of unreliability online
information is the reviews we read about. In a local news article that took place in
Illinois, it is stated that fake online reviews are a growing problem. As someone that is
looking forward to traveling and experiencing new things, one will typically go online and
read about a certain places review. For example a hotel, or a restaurant. If the reviews
are good then one might consider staying there, but if the reviews are bad, one crosses
the place out as one of their options. Typically business in need of good reviews will pay
for them, Websites offer work to freelancers for a good review (Illinoishomepage.net).
Seems like nothing on the internet can be fully trusted.
What about our politics? In a research conducted by Pew Research Center, it
questions if social media is the new local TV for the next generation. This research was
broken down into three different generations in order to go further in depth in comparing
and contrasting each generation difference. The millennials were those born between
1981-1996, generation x were those born between 1965-1980, and the baby boomers
were those born between 1946-1964. The difference between the baby boomers and
the millennials is that back in the old day, they relied on local TV for their news source
(60%) while the millennials now rely on facebook (61%). About 24% of millennials who

use facebook have reported that at least half the posts they see are related to
government and politics, while only 18% Gen Xers and 16% baby boomers said the
same (Millennials and political news).
What all three
generations have in
common is the level of
trust and distrust for
certain sources. All three
generations trust, on
average, about four-in-ten
sources they have heard
of and distrust about
two-in-ten. (Millennials and Political news). A recent and prime example of bias in
political news has been the presidential elections that took place. All across social
media there have been news articles and memes displayed to hurt or accuse the other
candidate. What one candidate may have said during a debate would seconds be found
on the internet with a whole different and twisted meaning. During the elections,
President-elect Donald Trump was not favored by all young adults/teens. Lets not forget
how unhappy most of the Hispanic community was after Donald Trump had commented
on the community being rapists, criminals, and bringing in drugs. Surely after Donald
Trump won the presidential election, the internet had begun to spread false information
on what Donald Trump would do to the hispanic community immediately.

One article in particular stated that Billionaire

Donald Trump will travel to Nicaragua to
negotiate the purchase of the country. As you
can see with this one post, it had already been
shared by two other people. Sharing of this link
allows it to become visible to other facebook
users and people will normally not take the
time to click on the actual link, read the article,
and determine whether the source is credible
or not. Days later the same post was being shared around facebook but this time it
wasnt talking about Nicaragua, it was now also talking about Honduras and El
Salvador. After a while it was safe to say that it was in fact not true and that it was made
up in order to start more dislike between hispanics and the new president.
When it comes to political views and ones political beliefs, man different sources
could be feeding us. But what if those sources doesnt strictly come from the internet
and instead comes from another person? In an article by the Atlantic, Do children just
take their parents political beliefs? Its not that simple, it is stated that many parents try
to instruct their children and impart their views, perhaps hoping their kids become
carbon copies of themselves, or become the people they wish they were themselves.
Two examples are two families raising their children according to their own beliefs. One
family is raising their kids to be liberals and atheists while the other is raising them to be
conservative. The liberal family believes they have raised their kids the right way

because one day in kindergarten class their daughter refused to eat papa john's pizza
because she said the company's ceo will not give its employees healthcare benefits.
The other family believed they had raised their kids the right way because even now as
adults, they are all conservative and extremely pro-life and are passing it down in their
own family. However, just because you feed your kids your own views in expectancy
that they will follow this way of life, it doesnt necessarily work out for the best. One
example is Jacqueline Church Sanders. She grew up in a conservative southern
household where she held her parents belief as the truth. Growing up she was able to
learn on her own, form her own opinions, and soon develop her own political beliefs.
The increasing hatriotismbigotry, anti-women, anti-poorof the right changed me.
(Do children just take their parents political beliefs? Its not that simple)
As technological advances are always taking place, our self reliance on the
internet seems to be making advances as well. With smart phones that connect to the
internet and the accessibility of wifi almost everywhere we turn, who can quite blame us
for always digging our noses in social media and reading and believing what we see.
We must be aware of the sources we come across and determine its credibility before
we spread bias ourselves. Through the increasing popularity of social media, we must
remember that not everything is to be trusted and it is recommended to research the
article or source before we believe it.

Works Cited
Brode, Gary. "Fake Online Reviews Are Growing Problem."
ILLINOISHOMEPAGE. N.p., 05 Feb. 2015. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.
"Evaluating Internet Sources." Evaluating Internet Sources. N.p., n.d. Web. 07
Dec. 2016.
Pm, Published 03/17/14 3:00. "How Americans Get Their News - American Press
Institute." American Press Institute. N.p., 16 Mar. 2014. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.
"Guides: Evaluating Information: Evaluating Social Media." Evaluating Social
Media - Evaluating Information - Guides at Johns Hopkins University. N.p., n.d.
Web. 07 Dec. 2016.
Mitchell, Amy, Jeffrey Gottfried, and Katerina Eva Matsa. "Millennials and
Political News." Pew Research Center's Journalism Project. N.p., 01 June 2015.
Web. 07 Dec. 2016.
Gottfried, Jeffrey, and Elisa Shearer. "News Use Across Social Media Platforms
2016." Pew Research Center's Journalism Project. N.p., 26 May 2016. Web. 07
Dec. 2016.
"Do Children Just Take Their Parents Political Beliefs? Its Not That Simple." The
Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.