Moving Forward as a More Critical Thinker on the Internet
The Internet has become as space where information is widely available with a quick Google search, unfortunately this information isn’t always accurate, and misinformation is easily spread. Due to the amount of misinformation prevalent on the Internet, it is imperative that digital users are aware of this. In Why You Need Digital Know-How: Why We All Need It by Rheingold, they wrote, “in a world where information is abundant and veracity is not guaranteed, while gatekeepers, authorities, and fact-checkers are scarce, each of us as individuals and all of us as a society have no choice but to learn how to think critically about what we pluck from the information flow, how much we are to believe what we find or are given, and whether we should even devote any mind share to it at all” (Rheingold, 2012, pg. 12). Rheingold makes a good point about how we must be thinking critically about the information that is being presented to us, especially because misinformation has continued to spread rapidly, especially through social media where people are able to share information, whether it’s true or false, to their followers. It’s especially crucial to be thinking critically about what those with large following and platforms are sharing and to think about what the intentions are of the person who is sharing the information.
Overall, CI 2312 has been an incredibly informative and relevant course. It has allowed me to think more critically about the Internet as well as my place on the Internet. What has stuck me the most was the content from week 10 when we discussed online hostility, trolling, and misinformation. Being that it was a presidential election year and seeing so much misinformation being spread throughout the social media platforms I use most often, the content we learned was very relevant and it taught me a lot about how I can become a more critical thinker when it comes to deciphering the information I see online. Going forward, fact checking is one way I will work to combat the misinformation I see being shared and after this course ends, I know I will be able to take all of the skills I have learned and improve upon the digital literacy skills I had prior to this course.
