With technology becoming more prevalent than the printed word, almost everyone with a smartphone or internet connection reads the news online rather than in a newspaper or on television. The question is, does all of our information come from news websites, or simply from our friends’ posts on Facebook and Twitter?

While yes, a great deal of our friends on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media sites post news updates and give their opinions, they are not necessarily amateur journalists or experts because of that. However, often enough, they certainly like to think they are. Unfortunately, the age of social media has led to many know-it-alls and hot-headed arguments fought in cyberspace.

But we, as the readers, are also at fault. It’s easy to get caught up in shocking or interesting posts that our friends put up on their social network site, especially if there is an article or link attached, which we believe to be an authoritative source. Many times we may read something that a friend has posted and believe it, but there is a high chance that they have gotten facts incorrect or may have misinterpreted information, thus misleading the entirety of their readers.

Just because someone can take basic information and write it into a couple paragraph article in order to persuade their friends and family on a social networking website does not make them a journalist, amateur or not.

Also, with the dawn of Instagram, digital filters give users the ability to photograph and edit lomography-inspired pictures. But unlike opinionated posts on Facebook and Twitter, most Instragram users probably use the application for fun instead of controversy.