Blog #2: A Reflection on Online Research - Module 3

     I cannot fully express how advantageous the Internet truly is in terms of my personal academic experiences. I do not think our generation, or maybe just myself, is appreciative enough for how good we have it. Essentially, we have information quite literally at the tips of our finger. In just one click, our minds can be exposed to an abundance of scientific research, historical evidence and text, current news articles, opinion-based essays, art works from around the world, videos of monumental events in sports, blogs pertaining to individual interests, charitable organization homepages, etc etc. We can be instantly connected to almost any piece of information we may ever need, in just one mere click.

     With information being so accessible, my educational career has profited immensely. I cannot imagine having to be a college student just a few decades ago, where I had to rely solely on library books to write my research papers. Not only that, but I would have to spend hours flipping through pages, just to find a fact or concept that might not actually be there, through multiple texts. Research was labor intensive. Now, research is online. Moreover, research is fast, easily attainable, and abundant.

     However, given these things, I question whether our online research is as credible as the research done in physical texts. Wikipedia is a site that at least through my experience, almost always pops up first when I search a topic. Many of my instructors have told me to not use Wikipedia, simply because anyone can edit the pages and therefore, the information is not coming from a direct and reliable source. Additionally, while browsing, I encounter various articles, most of which have little value. Why? Because these articles are based off of opinions, not off of factual evidence and support. There is a sharing of ideas within these articles, but there is not discussion that is indicative of proof behind these ideas. For instance, there are articles that try to psychologically trick us. Their titles may appear to be something along the lines of, "Everyone Raves Over Ke$ha's New Album, it is the Best Album Made in History!" This title or statement claims something that is not necessarily true. One cannot simply base Ke$ha's album being the best album in history because it a lot of people like it. That claim does not prove that her album is the best. This statement, like many scene in online articles, is a fallacy that pertains to the popular opinion. Moreover, it is inaccurate to deem something true just because a lot of people like it.

     Through my experience, I have learned that even though having the option to research online is absolutely wonderful, I must use this tool efficiently and intelligently. I only include research from an online space that is credible and reputable. If the source is a quotation by a well known individual held in high regard such as a doctor, or famous author, I know my research has value. Also, if the source is an article from a well known news network such as CNN (and not Fox News), I know my research has value.