Nowadays, the most common medium to gather information is the digital world. Of course, there are many platforms and many ways to approach them, therefore it is important to keep in mind that a lot of them spread fake news. Remaining critical is a must. But it is not just the digital world that might provide wrong knowledge; If we think about journals in authoritarian countries, they are also likely to provide misleading information.
I want to point this out because we, as human beings, always need to prioritize our critical thinking and stay skeptical and selective when it comes to information.
Academic Use: A Careful Process
Talking about my personal experience, I can say that my use of digital media changes depending on my needs. When I write assignments for my courses, it is important for me to check the reliability of the information. In this case, I rely on platforms that I can trust, such as the Leiden University Catalogue or Google Scholar. They provide academic articles, most of them peer-reviewed. This means that before being published, they are carefully checked by scholars and university presses, so the information is likely reliable.
That being said, it doesn’t mean we don’t need to be critical. Even with reliable sources, I might not agree with what is written. So, I also check how useful the source is for supporting my argument. Honestly, this is a very stressful process, because even when I know which engines to use, there is still a huge number of articles to go through. Writing an assignment takes me a very long time just to figure out which sources to rely on.
YouTube: Useful but Tricky
Now, moving away from academia, I also use other platforms that are trickier. YouTube is one of them. When it comes to my personal curiosity and building knowledge on different subjects, I often rely on YouTube. I like spending my free time watching videos that tell me something I’m curious about. For example, I’m interested in wellbeing and personal growth, and this media has helped me a lot by giving me tips to use in my daily life. For instance it helped me in building up a good routine and in understanding how to manage my time to reach mental and physical wellbeing.
Should I say YouTube is reliable? No. Many people post videos without really knowing what they are talking about. But if we stay critical, it can still be useful. Once we know how to deal with the information and how to select what to watch, YouTube becomes an amazing way to build knowledge.
Instagram: Between News and Influencers
The last platform I want to mention is Instagram. I think nowadays it is one of the most used to gather information, especially by young people. From my personal experience, because of the algorithm, I get geopolitical news and politicians’ talks so I can stay updated on what is happening around the world. But if I want to be sure, being critical is not enough, I need to double-check with reliable newspapers to see if the information is real.
Another example is fitness. I got a lot of information on how to exercise from Instagram, but honestly? I don’t trust it anymore. There are plenty of influencers giving advice without having a proper diploma. I decided to rely on a personal trainer instead, and by talking with her I realized that there are many different approaches. It’s important first to understand which one fits your body and then stick to it. Following random exercise advice on Instagram can actually be dangerous, leading to injuries.
Final Thoughts
After going through these examples of different platforms, I want to stress again the importance of being critical. It doesn’t matter which engine we use or for what purpose, the first step is to ask ourselves: What am I looking for? How much do I already know about it? Being aware of our position and knowledge helps us deal with the huge amount of information and make better selections. Misleading information can be harmful, so knowing how to handle it is not just important, IT IS A MUST.
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