In order to be a productive citizen of the world, it is quite important to remain informed. This can prove difficult to do with the whirlwind lives we all lead. These days, especially, it is growing ever-more important to be aware of society beyond one's own bubble. Fear not, because a comprehensive knowledge of current events, world news and pop culture, is easily attainable through a few of my favorite Internet shortcuts.
World News and Current Events
The New York Times website has a few free features that come in handy when it comes to staying in the know. E-mail subscriptions allow the news to come to you, rather than having to monotonously sift through headline after headline.
Bonus: The NYT Now Morning Briefing is great for news Monday through Friday, and the NYT Now app allows you to combat ignorance any time you'd like!
Wikipedia may not always be the most reliable source when it comes to researching a given topic, but this current events shortcut provides small blurbs about everything transpiring today.
The Associated Press is a nonprofit multinational news agency that delivers nearly instant news coverage of worldwide events. This link is to various updates and headlines of world news.
Pop Cultureand Mass Culture
Whoa whoa what is this?! Beyond plugging this delightful canvas for young writers to produce their own content about any given topic, The Odyssey is a platform to peruse what our generation is discussing.
BuzzFeed is a site almost everyone is familiar with. Sure, a majority of the website is full of clickbait (or, articles just for fun/easy reading), yet many contemporary issues and issues of cultural life are covered in quick, to-the-point articles.
2016 Presidential Election
This next election is extremely important, because from each end of the political spectrum a new candidate will be thrown into the ring. It is up to us to make informed decisions about politics, and take the time to find a candidate that aligns with our interests. Sure, the political system has massive room for improvement, but we might as well scrummage up whatever feelings of political efficacy we have left and educate ourselves about this next milestone in American political history.
http://ballotpedia.org/Presidential_election,_2016
http://www.cnn.com/specials/politics/2016-election
http://www.politico.com/p/pages/2016-elections/
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/07/2016-election/384828/
These are just a few sites with easy shortcuts that aggregate information about each candidate. The issues of the election the candidates' backgrounds and stances, and more are covered across these sites. In addition, a simple Google search about the election and candidates may yield helpful results if these sites do not prove sufficient.
Social Media Can Actually Help
Maybe clicking on each of these links takes up just a few precious seconds you don't have in your day. No big deal. Social media can actually be beneficial AND save you time here. Following news sources on Twitter and/or Facebook will help lace your daily social media immersion with current events.
A few helpful accounts to follow:
@BuzzFeed or @BuzzFeedNews
@vicenews
@AP
@CNN
@washingtonpost
@BBCWorld
@nytimes
@cnnbrk
@TIME
Let's Not Forget Local News
Your local news may be full of "boring" or old news, but don't forget to be aware of what is happening in your backyard. Part of being conscious of society as a whole is being conscious of your own mini-society in your city.
