Band 9 essay sample | The internet is not a reliable source of information

Essay topic

It is generally believed that the Internet is an excellent means of communication but some people suggest that it may not be the best place to find information. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Sample essay

The internet has revolutionized our lives. It has changed the way we communicate and research. According to some people, the internet is a great communication tool but it is not a reliable source of information. I do not quite agree with this view. In my opinion, the internet is not only an excellent communication tool but also a treasure trove of information.

The internet has given us access to a vast pool of information. In fact, anyone who has access to a smart phone and an internet connection can now find information on just about any subject within a matter of seconds. This ease of finding information online has even made physical libraries redundant.

The main problem with finding information online is that we cannot always trust the source. The internet allows anyone and everyone to be a writer and a publisher. You can blog on any topic; you can post your opinions on any subjects. No one will ask you whether you are qualified to do so. As a result, some of the information that we find online is not very reliable. This, however, does not mean that all the information on the internet is erroneous.

While I admit that it is possible to find factually incorrect information on some lesser known websites, blogs and forums, the truth is that the vast majority of these unreliable sources do not make it to search results. When you do a Google search for a particular keyword, the websites that pop up are authority sites that do their research before posting information online. Take, for instance, the case of online encyclopedia Wikipedia. Anyone can edit it so we might think that it will contain a lot of mistakes. On the contrary, Wikipedia does not contain any more errors than the celebrated Encyclopedia Britannica because it has committed editors and writers who want to provide the most authentic information to their readers.

To conclude, I do not agree with the argument that the internet is not a reliable place to find information. If we only refer to authority websites and blogs we do not have to worry about the authenticity of the information we find.