We're all reading online, aren't we?

When one thinks about how today's society recieves information, it's honestly wild to realize the role of the internet. I might have read 3 articles yesterday, and NONE of them were in print. I did not ready any of those articles in paper print in my hands. So what? I still understood the information, I'm still walking away a more knowledgeable person, but the question is did I approach the article the same way? Did I take the article serriously?

In one respect, I think I did. I read an article that was emailed to me through a blog I like and respect: Refinery29. A blog I have decided is so established and noteworthy, I'll let it take valuable space in my overstuffed inbox. I know when I read these articles, they could easily be in a print magazine. The writers are employed by the blog's company that I trust will only deliver true facts and good writing. It's trustworthy so I sit down a listen up.

However if this same article was delivered to me on another blog, maybe one with less ads on the side and a less than impressive graphically designed site, I don't know if I'll read the entire article. I might skim it. I might read the first sentences of the paragraphs and still feel uneasy that I got the true story. Because anyone can post to the web. Here I am! A considerably unqualified writer, no journalism degree to sport, and I am adding to the content of the internet. I wouldn't enter this link into easybib? You know? I would not use myself as a reference. However, I would always feel pretty confident citing a printed article. If I wrote an article a printed publication decided to take a chance on and add it to a print magazine, I would conclude that was a well-written article with researched facts that check out.

So today's search for information can lead us to reading respected content or just web-crap. However I trust the practiced web users have an idea of what's to be trusted and what is "12 ways you're out of his league" (even if you suspect this, don't read this literature). Just trust your judgement!

That being said, there is a final difference I will always hold between screens and paper and that is the novelty of paper today. I might speak for myself, but I secretly cherish holding a magazine and reading an article. It is such a novelty for me these days (no personal subscriptions, hardly any time spent in doctor's waiting rooms, too busy unloading at the grocery store check-out) to hold a magazine, study the advertisements, and read what the successful journalists are putting out. In a sense, I feel like I'm holding onto some of the past and just that, novelty.

For me, printed articles will always seem more established, trust-worthy, and novelty. There is plenty of solid, respected content on the internet. But there is also the web-crap that hurts the reputation of everything published on the web. At the end of the day, there's a sure-fire way we are all getting information. There's an easy way to knowledge so we cannot question the facts of the matter too much.