I am a "crotchety millennial."

That term was used to describe me (and aptly so, I might add) fairly recently by a coworker who's the same age as me, but who is obviously more in touch with their millennial-ness.

I will admit, I sound/look/act/feel/think older than I am. It's helped me get away with a few things I probably shouldn't have -- or wouldn't have, had I actually had typical 24-year old appearances and voice. I'm an old man at heart and soul, and I've quit fighting it and just own it.

Now, I tell you that to tell you this: what ever happened to good old-fashioned research? Or concern for facts? It seems like that's somehow disappeared, along with the public's interest in what's factually correct and what isn't.

When did that leave the public consciousness? Did it go away when social media began running everyone's lives, or has it been a slow march toward mass blissful ignorance starting long before I was born?

It's easy to blame millennials collectively: we regularly do stupid things, I'll admit. We also do a lot of things right. One example is how we've gotten better at calling out BS news stories when we see them. We still have a problem setting aside our personal biases when selecting articles to share and get emotional about, but hey, progress doesn't happen overnight.

You see, we remember our parents telling us, at a time when the internet was still pretty new and vastly unexplored, "don't believe everything you read on the web." Since becoming a student of journalism and a media professional, I've expanded that thinking to "don't believe everything you read or watch anywhere."

I've become more cynical, admittedly, when it comes to my consumption of media and information, but that comes from an appreciation for solid information-gathering skills and the difficulty journalists face these days. Sifting through mountains of digital documents is not my idea of fun, but someone somewhere is doing it right now for the sake of reporting honest facts.

Hopefully your time in college and adult life has taught you the importance of research and questioning things. Gullibility is not a desirable character trait, but yet we regularly see someone who is guilty of posting a fake news story without realizing it. Maybe it's ourselves, in which case, shame on you/me.

The recent election has brought about a wave of fake news articles and sites -- or at least made it more apparent of just how big an issue these sources are, and how much they can sway public perception. Part of it, I think, has to do with our addiction to social media, but that's a topic for another time. Right now I'm more concerned with how prolific fake news is, and how it can be avoided.

I don't have time to comb the web for sites that routinely regurgitate faux news -- or people that write it for a living.

There are actually humans who pay rent by writing and distributing fake news. This baffles me.

I'd like to tell those people right now: Stop it. Stop it immediately. Go find a different way to make money.

If you want to write fiction, I've got some excellent fiction authors for you to read. If you want to write journalistically, I recommend actually learning how journalism works and chatting with professionals. If you want to write satire, read The Onion for examples of good quality humor writing.

Quit muddying the waters for those of us seeking real, helpful, factual information.

"But AJ, the readers out there can tell the difference, they can make up their own minds as to what's real and what isn't."

Obviously they can't, because I still see those fake articles about famous celebrities moving to <insert city here> or getting into bar fights in <any town in the nation>. I'm going to blame both the audience and the author here. The author should know better than to spread fake news for clicks, and in turn should find a better way to make a quick buck. The audience should be able to identify fake news by asking a few questions as they cruise through web articles:

1. Consider the source. Is it a news outlet you've heard of before? Do some digging into the site's legitimacy. Look for a mission statement, contact info, etc.

2. Read beyond the headline. Headlines are designed to get clicks, even those from legitimate news outlets. Don't take a headline at face value. Keep reading.

3. Check the author. Are they credible? Do a quick search of them.

4. Check the date. I've been guilty of not looking at when a story was published, so always look to see if the story is old or has any kind of time stamp.

5. Check your biases. This one is a little more difficult to explain. You may have noticed some of my biases: journalism student, works in media, didn't grow up in a tech-heavy environment, etc. Basically, it's the act of recognizing your personal beliefs, both inherent and adopted, and being able to set those aside when considering a news story. Good journalists can report any kind of story without their personal biases getting in the way; it's a constant struggle, even for the top-tier professionals, and I don't expect the average news consumer to always do this. I just want people to ask themselves how their own biases might effect how they read or digest information.

I borrowed that list from FactCheck.org, by the way. There's some handy tips there, if you'd like more information. If at any time you're having trouble determining whether an article is real news or fake, you can always ask me. I'm willing and available to help at any time, and I promise to be polite and educational about it.

To summarize: it's not funny when someone shares a fake news story. It's not "witty" or "fresh" when someone shortens a complex story to 140 characters. It's dangerous, and it has a muzzling effect on the folks who work hard to provide honest facts for public consumption. It also has the effect of making the public dumb, and I don't want to live amongst a dumb public.

If that makes me a crotchety millennial, then so be it.

Now get off my lawn.