Hi there! Welcome to my fourth blog post. If you have not read any of my earlier posts, I am doing an inquiry project with the question “Has instant access to information made society less informed?” In this post, I am going to be doing my second round of research.
Access to more information
I will be focussing on the pros and cons of having access to so much information.
Pros
The internet has been a key for knowledge. People can use the internet to receive information for free. You can look up anything and find what you are looking for extremely fast, unlike spending more time finding it in a book for example. It has access to unlimited information and can be helpful. Students can use the internet for learning. It is used for research, online courses, and tutorials. Students have easy access to information that can help them with research project, and teachers can use it to prepare and improve their lessons. People can read books, watch educational videos, access online encyclopedias and so much more. The internet has made learning so much easier. (1)
The internet also has benefits when it comes to the news. If we look at social media, we can receive our information and news in an instant since it spreads so quickly. We can get information on current events national and international, or just any type of news in general on the internet or social media. You can also hear different people’s perspectives on current events to give you different information. (2)
Cons
When students must do research projects or just work in general for school, they are now starting to use Ai. Sure, Ai can be helpful to check your grammar and spelling, but some students use it to do all their assignments. This gives students a lack of creativity and they start to be unable to think for themselves when it comes to their work. (3)
Misinformation is a big harm to receiving any sort of information online. “Fake news” is something that can spread quickly across various platforms. (4) People read and share information online quite a lot, making it spread to other people’s media. Many people fall for misinformation, and it is one of the main reasons as to why some people don’t rely on social media for their information.
Examples of misinformation people fall for
- Satire or parody: Doesn’t intend to cause harm, but has potential to fool
- False connection: Headlines, captions or visuals don’t support the content
- Misleading content: Frames an issue or individual by misleading the information
- False context: When content has false contextual information
- Imposter content: Impersonator’s
- Manipulated content: When real information is manipulated to deceive
- Fabricated content: Content that is 100% false to do harm (4)
There are much more pros and cons to having so much access to information online. We can see that even though there are many benefits to having this access and can be educational, it can also be even quite confusing when not done correctly. In my next post I will be talking about if all this access to information is informing or exposing.
Sources:
Coleman, Theara . “The Pros and Cons of Social Media.” Theweek, 26 Apr. 2023, theweek.com/news/media/960639/the-pros-and-cons-of-social-media. (1)
Anne. “Five Positive Uses of Social Media, and How It’s Changed the World for the Better.” We Do Stories, 21 Feb. 2019, www.wedostories.com/blog/five-positive-uses-of-social-media-and-how-its-changed-the-world-for-the-better/. (2)
“Advantages and Disadvantages of Artificial Intelligence – Masarat Initiative.” مبادرة مسارات, 6 June 2024, masarat-sy.org/en/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-artificial-intelligence/?rf=pmax_x&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22866287685&gbraid=0AAAAA9aXFXMnfR0HRMoJl0iTDr5dXy7JH&gclid=Cj0KCQjww8rQBhDjARIsAE43KPMvtTKOyKUs1XKAaMrqAzxRRlsODOEHBl9Wkoq0UZc8WeboCzrNdkoaAhbyEALw_wcB. Accessed 29 May 2026. (3)
UNHCR. Factsheet 4: Types of Misinformation and Disinformation. 2022. (4)
