Pen Pal
Dear friend, You are absolutely right, the internet is a fascinating source of information. It does help in so many ways and is very quick and convenient. I find myself using the internet over the library and other sources of media more and more each day. However, it is not always easy to find information that is credible. Much of the internet is full of people just like you and me voicing their opinions on everyday topics. While this information may be interesting, not all of it is based upon fact or can be proven. Also, many of the websites are user edited, which allows anyone to add or change information on the site at any time. When doing academic research, I try to avoid these sites and any other site that is not scholarly or does not contain proven fact. Doing so however, is not an easy task.
It is very easy to get lost in all of the information at your fingertips and become quickly overwhelmed trying to find reliable sources. However, I have learned a few ways to make this process a little easier. First you will want to make sure that you are refining your web addresses to ones that end in .edu, .gov, .mil, .net, or .org. These sites remain more reliable than those that end in .com, because they are monitored sites. This means that the information has been examined and is more than likely factual data. If you cannot get the information you are in search of from these domains listed, then my advice with the domains that end in .com, is to avoid sites that can be edited by users. It is also a good idea to try to verify the information on the site by doing other research. If many of the sites are saying the same thing, then more than likely the information is credible. If you follow each of these steps, you will have no problem finding reliable, credible information.
On the other hand, finding reliable information is not the only problem we have in regards to the internet. As you mentioned in your letter there is a digital divide. Not nearly as divided as before, but still a divide nonetheless. The term digital divide means that there is part of the population that does not have access to the internet. In today’s society, not having internet, could be a real issue. More and more each day, schools, jobs, and businesses are using computers to complete necessary functions. If you do not have access to the internet, you could easily get behind in today’s era. I know that personally, not having access to the internet, is not an option for me. Without it, I would not be able to complete my