How to Evaluate a Source

Sydney Lang

11-3-17

English 110-C

Initially I was looking for an essay that would prove to the reader why technology is beneficial to the individual, but then I came across this essay which does not directly get to this message exactly, but with some analysis this perspective can be wrung from the literary work of choice. The essay that I chose is called, “Say Everything” written by the author Emily Nussbaum. Within this essay Nussbaum touches upon the beliefs and ideas revolving around the specific generation that says everything. With this perspective, she touches upon the belief that the people from this connected generation are shameless, especially when it comes to sharing on the internet. But within her first couple of starting paragraphs she introduces her personal experience talking with someone that ‘overshared’ their childhood, teenage adolescence, and past experiences with the internet world, and she found herself being protective of her and her choices, which I found to be an interesting point of view. I chose this essay as I found it to be an interesting perspective to take regarding my generation. Having older parents I have been raised with the older generation’s thought on the over-exposure on the internet, as well as my friends thoughts and opinions on their internet experiences as they grew into using it. I can share common ground with the essay as I have seen what one might call a cases of oversharing on the internet. Personally I can relate to the interviewee’s statement from early on in the essay where she said, “I wouldn’t ever put up anything I wouldn’t want my mother to see” (Nussbaum 1). The mentality I was taught was, “do not type, photograph, post, or comment, anything that you would not be proud to see plastered across a billboard” (Lang haha). Other than being able to relate to the essay’s topic, it connects to my perspective that I plan on fighting in my next essay. This source is considered to be acceptable as it was not only provided by my professor as a source, but the New York magazine is known for being a reputable source for legitimate writers to input their pieces of literary work. Also through the library visit, the class learned of the CRAAP test to essentially see if a source is crap or not. C– standing for currency, or how recent was this article posted. R– is for relevance, how closely does this relate to the topic at hand. A– being the authority, is the source sketchy or is it from a legitimate source. A– being accuracy, for how accurate is the piece, is it completely bias or is it well balanced. Finally, P– purpose, the point of writing the piece, to promote a cause, to educate people, to advertise, etc. Nussbaum’s “Say Everything” passes the CRAAP test as it is current, relevant, it has authority, it is accurate, and its purpose is appropriate as it is not promoting one idea too much that it clouds any other opinion. As I read through the article I brainstorm all of the possible connections that I could be drawing to Wasik, Restak, and to Anderson. For example in the quote, “They are interested only in attention—and yet they have zero attention span, flitting like hummingbirds from one virtual stage to another, (Nussbaum 2). This relates to the common theme that both Restak and Anderson share and its dependence on technology connects back to Wasik as well. This just being the first of many connections that this essay provides.