Student voices: Facebook is great, but check your facts

Talk about it

It’s pretty well known the younger generations, including myself, are addicted to technology. There are the exceptions to every rule, but as I type this on my MacBook and have it capitalize my Is for me I confess I am not one of them. This is how I get my entertainment, do my work and, honestly, waste hours on end.

I'm not going to say it is a bad thing, because it has opened doors that 50 years ago would have been impossible. I applied to universities in the UK with relative ease because I could do research online and apply there as well. Information is readily accessible and it allows us to conveniently research and learn about new topics.

That being said, there is also a downside. We read our Facebook newsfeed instead of the news. We watch videos our friends posted, many featuring people injuring themselves in some ridiculous way in hopes of receiving 15 minutes of fame.

Though the information is accessible, there are few of us who proactively seek it.

This has caused a shift in the way we are targeted. The best example is the video Kony 2012. For those of you who haven’t seen this, it is about a warlord in Uganda who is terrorizing the people there and building child armies. It brings to attention a social issue most people were ignorant of beforehand. It wasn’t posted on CNN or ABC, though; it was posted on YouTube and spread through Facebook and other social networking services.

The power of social media is evident in the sheer number of views Kony 2012 has received. The last time I checked it was nearing 80,000,000 views. This is impressive, but the one thing that worries me about the trend is YouTube doesn’t require fact checking or auditing. This power could be used to take advantage of a generation. I am not saying that’s what I believe Kony 2012 is doing. Instead, I think is important to do your own research from more than one source, because it is so easy to reach.

Addie Iverson is a senior at Rosemount High School. Her column appears every third week in the Town Pages.

Tags: opinion, rosemount, commentaries