We’re in the midst of an informational apocalypse.

In the ever-expanding marketplace of information, the line between fact and opinion hasn’t just been blurred, it has been erased.

The days when facts required actual, quantifiable, corroboration are gone.  (R.I.P.) 

And what remains is a world where anyone with a computer or smart phone can create the illusion of authority simply by infusing their “skewed” (and I use that term generously) world view into this crowded marketplace.

Look, I’m not trying to hate on the Internet or the flat, globalized world that it has created.

And the benefits of this digital age in many ways outweigh the detriments.

But at some point, we’re going to have to face the fact that not all sources are equal.

Let me step off my soap box long enough to make the following clear: this is not a matter of political ideology.  In fact, the problem goes far beyond mere ideology.  It transcends it.

This is a matter of recognizing that just because any dope can enter the marketplace of information doesn’t necessarily make mean that he/she should.

The accessibility of information and the ease with which someone, anyone can create it, makes the Internet a powerful tool capable of good and evil.

All it takes is one crazy person to make something up. 

Remember the time when crazy people stood on street corners shouting imperceptibly about problems? 

Well now that same person can just as easily hide anonymously behind a seemingly legitimate looking website. 

And now, instead of crossing the street to avoid them, as logic would dictate, we live in a world where uninformed (at best) or partisan people can use that information as a source and state the opinion as a cold, hard fact. 

Worse yet, at that moment, it is then freely accessible to anyone else who wishes to use that information to substantiate their own crazy notions.  And in no time, things have spiraled out of control.

So now what?

I wish I had the answer.  Or better yet, I wish there was an answer.

All I know is that we need to understand the depth of the problem before we can even begin to develop a workable solution.

In the meantime, all I can offer you is a firm promise that at Everyday Appeal, you can be confident that you’re getting real facts from trusted, vetted sources.  No agendas.  No spin.

And in this informational apocalypse, that may be the only thing that you can count on…