More Youth Now Uses The Internet To Get Correct Facts

BY MOHD NOOR FIRDAUS MOHD AZIL KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 (Bernama) -- It is a normal scenario to see youths browsing the Internet using their smart phones and tablets wherever they are, be it at shopping malls, inside trains, or even while dining with family members and friends. And, it is quite a surprise to know that many of them too are browsing the Net in search of correct, unbiased facts and information after they have read issues online, which they believe have been manipulated or exaggerated, or are even half truths. Based on random observation, youths (in the 18-40 years age group), who comprises more than 40 per cent of total population, rely more on social media (Twitter, Facebook and Blogs) and news portals to source information and gain insights. However, since the youths are also better educated and aware, they also are cautious enough and take extra effort by referring to the mainstream media to get verified facts. Agreeing on this matter, Ranes Subramaniam, 27, pointed out that even though getting information was faster through social media, one should also depend on justification and rational thinking on understanding the issues. Ranes, who works as a financial manager, said, with the loads of information people could get on the Internet, it had become extra crucial to know whether the information obtained from this platform wastrustworthy enough. "When I read a news article spread through Twitter, the first thing I will do is to look for the official (mainstream) reports on the particular information on Twitter, and then I will compare both information, to see if the news is genuine. "The information on social media can't be trusted fully, as it involves emotions, political ideology and even personal hatred towards a political party or a political figure," he said to Bernama recently. Ranes also argued that, despite the fact that social media could be used as an effective tool to give people more alternative reading material, it could also be turned into a vicious platform for some people (including politicians) to spread their own agenda. "It is supposed to be used in engaging with the public, to discuss national policies, to agree and disagree on the national agenda, and many more. By doing this on social media, it will be helpful to the involved parties to make the public aware, as it's more reachable and understandable by the public," he said. Norsyafiqah Abu Samah, 24, from Universiti Kuala Lumpur, another person who claimed to be a social media junkie, agreed that somehow she doesn't feel comfortable enough on solely consuming information from social media. The doctor-in-making, who is also a keen blogger, said mainstream media was still relevant as a reliable source of information. "Me and my friends in campus won't be that naive to trust information from the Internet, or to be specific, from social media. There are more reliable sources to get factual news, and social media is just merely one of it," she said. Agreeing on the same matter, Muhammad Zaidi Maarof, 25, a student at the University of Selangor, said with the government policy on easing laws and regulations on Internet, the public should be wiser and can go deeper into the process of understanding any issues. According to a political observer, Khairuddin Mohd Zain, younger people nowadays were very careful on accepting information, and they know how to think rationally, and how to go in-depth, getting and justifying issues before making up their minds. Khairuddin, who is also an International Islamic University alumni committee member, said, youths nowadays filtered any type of information accordingly, whether it was about politics, economy, education or religion. Commenting further on the matter, he also stressed that politicians and policy makers, should get engaged actively with the public via these platforms. "Politicians, whether from the ruling government or opposition, should know, Prime Minister (Najib Tun Razak) brought politics to a new dimension after he himself actively used social networks. "Meaning that he is bold enough to reduce the barriers between leaders and the public, and he is daring enough to receive direct criticism if the people thinks his policis are not well-implemented for example. I call accountable and transparent," he said. Therefore, Khairuddin said, politicians including members of parliaments, grassroots leaders or even non-profit organisations should also take responsibility to promote a healthier way of spreading information, since the public preferred to obtain information directly from them. A youth leader from 4B Youth, Badrul Hisham Badrudin said, if the information from social media was not executed carefully, in the end youths would tend to get more confused on determining what was right and wrong. "There are too many sources, you just 'google' for anything you want, yes you can get it in a blink of an eye, but the question is, how to know that is the real fact? "For me, mainstream media is still reliable, and that doesn't mean they can't get involved with social media. For example Bernama has its own facebook page, its own Twitter account. The key is, get everything connected, and people will use the social media to get the information from the mainstream media," he said. Perhaps, as a proof that more people are going back to the mainstream media for unbiased reports and responsible information, statistics show that BERNAMA's website itself has been enjoying an average of 78 million hits for the months of January and February (this year). -- BERNAMA