Hello everyone! It’s crazy that we are already on our 3rd blog post. This week’s reading is Effectively and Efficiently Reading the Credibility of Online Sources by Ellen Carillo & Alice Hornin. I was reminded of a speech I had to write for a speech and debate competition I was in.

The topic for the speech was “Together Kindness Can Unite the Country” and my approach and opinion was that it is not possible for just kindness to be what brings us together. Because there are so many issues with our country that stem from its very creation of it. In the speech, I brought up how misinformation is running rapidly in our country, especially because of the growth and constant usage of social media in today’s society. Misinformation is a big factor in why our country is so divided in issues that most of the time we can find a common ground. In the reading, the author brings up a story of Alice receiving misinformation during the pandemic “At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when information about ways to stay safe was being circulated, Alice received an e-mail from a colleague she considers a highly reliable source…But it also contained what Alice later realized was some suspicious advice for killing the virus. For instance: "Any mix with 1 part bleach and 5 parts water directly dissolves the protein, breaks it down from the inside,” (carillo 35-36). This quote really stuck with me because in the speech I talked about how during the pandemic people would much rather listen to opinions and beliefs from random people online than our educated scientific community. Which led to a lot of separation and tension during our pandemic.