As print journalism slowly starts to dissipate, millennials are turning to the internet for their news updates, homework answers, and personal leisure. The web has become a global platform for people of varying writing proficiencies to publish their opinions freely. Authentic online information is increasingly difficult to find in the digital age as pieces are often concealed under monetary gains and strategic uploads.

With today’s easily accessible technology, almost anyone can create a blog or webpage. A blog post about brain surgery can be published even when the author is not a neuroscientist. Educational sites such as Wikipedia, Quora, and Answers can be edited by the public, as well as anonymously. Unfortunately, the current internet regulation laws in America are vague and difficult to implement. Thus, online contributors cannot always be held accountable for their deceits and publications.

It is important to recognize the underlying bias that is sprinkled throughout online news outlets including the ones that claim to be nonpartisan. Although I consider my political ideologies to be moderate, I read the Huffington Post,Business Insider, and Wall Street Journal which have tendencies to be left-center. Whether readers are aware of it or not, biasness is present in almost every form of writing and artwork. It is essential for people to think for themselves and understand the rooted biases that companies, the media, and even search engines create.

Although online companies and writers need the proper finances to run their websites and blogs, this contributes to the rise of “click-bait” articles, or headlines that intentionally include provocative statements for the purpose of gaining attention. As a content creator for The Odyssey at USC, I understand the need to drive traffic to my articles. However, I feel a sense of betrayal when writers sacrifice honest stories for controversial gossip for the sake of ads and views.

Advanced data analytics currently used by Facebook, Amazon, and Yahoo! can show advertisements or sponsored articles based on a user’s previous web searches. The amount of time a user stays on a page and amount of social media engagement a brand receives can all be tracked with modern technology. The suggested YouTube videos, shopping items, and even BuzzFeed articles that appear on our screens are deliberately placed there, influencing the way we receive our information and make our everyday decisions.

The internet is a community that allows people of all different backgrounds to read and write as they please. While the excessive nature of blogs and media outlets allow readers to gather information more quickly, the information can still be partial or flawed. Ultimately, it is the reader’s responsibility to fact check their sources and analyze the origin of the publications. Google is helpful to a certain extent, but we must not forget that print publications still exist. Students who cite online databases as sources for their academic papers should also cross check other academic institutions and journals. Millennials can continue posting questions on public forums as long as they filter through the responses and find the truth that prevails through fake news.