Since the number
of people who use the internet as a source of information increases, there is an ongoing
debate over whether the internet is a valuable source of information. I
disagree with this statement because the information in the internet might be
distorted or modified by many anonymous people and most of the information
posted in the internet does not explain its source clearly.
To begin with,
the information in the internet is possible to be distorted by people. One significant
reason is that in the internet people’s anonymity is guaranteed. That is, no
one knows who provides information. Accordingly the information might be thoughtlessly
modified and even be provided falsely by anonymous people. For example, couple
of years ago people living in South Korea was very confused by a material
posted on a portal web site. According to the material, North Korea were
preparing for invading South Korea. However, the person who wrote and
posted the information was revealed 8 years old child. He said that it
was just for fun. It implies that the information in the internet is unable to
be said valuable. Rather, it is quite dubitable.
In addition, much
of the information in the internet does not clearly explain where the
information comes from. It is evident that valuable information must be rooted
from clear source otherwise, we never be able to confirm the preciseness of the
information and cannot use the information. Recent study has indicated that among
one thousand materials posted on the Naver, one of the most famous Korean
portal site, 80% of the materials were not specifying clear sources.
Consequently, it is almost impossible to discern their accuracy.
In conclusion, I
strongly believe that the internet is quite questionable source of information.
This is because, not only are there huge number of distorted and falsely described
materials, but also, many of them are not specifying their precise sources. All
in all, we are living in a flood of information. Therefore, we should develop
our ability to discern which information is right or wrong. |