While there are some members of the millennial generation, us young people, who are unbelievably up to date with current events, many of this generation are horribly uniformed. Some people spend every morning watching the latest breaking news stories before class with their bowl of Raisin Bran, others like to use that time to catch up on their Netflix addiction of the moment. A few people never miss the chance to pick up the new print addition of the local paper, while others don't even know what those blue stands around campus are for. Whatever side you stand on, there is a new way for young people to become involved in politics and current events that has been introduced to the technological world--the iPhone "news" application. While there are many people, young and old, who do not own an iPhone, the population that does holds a wonderfully powerful and informative creation in their hands. For many reasons the news app has become my favorite scrolling pleasure.

First and foremost, this app does the job of keeping people informed. People who do not read or watch the news may not know about the Pope visiting the U.S., the deadly stampede that tragically happened during a religious pilgrimage, or the difference between Donald Trump's and Bernie Sanders' political views, but the news app would allow these people to quickly and easily become involved citizens. Scrolling through some top news headlines between classes, or during an especially boring lecture, can make the difference between being able to hold a riveting and intelligent conversation with someone, and having no idea what anyone is talking about. Knowing what is happening in the world can be incredibly impactful to your everyday life.

Secondly, a wide variety of sources is at your disposal with this app. Anything from the Washington Post and the New York Times,to National Geographic, all the way to Vanity Fair can be found in this massive world of information. Having multiple sources telling similar stories can help you piece together the whole story from many angles, as well as insure that all the facts are matching up. After a few days of browsing, you might even be able to recommend the best papers to your uptight professor, showing off your impressive new wealth of information and getting you on their good side at the same time.

Third, and related to the idea of a variety of sources, both hard and soft news are available at your fingertips. Hard news, or breaking news, is the kind of intense, extremely current, and incredibly impactful stuff seen on the nightly news, including stories such as major crimes committed, terrorist attacks around the world, and accidents that are fatal. Then there is soft news, which is more along the lines of human-interest stories, such as so-and-so pop star marrying so-and-so actor. Whether you are interested in what happened in Syria nine hours ago, or want to know about the latest fashion trends for the fall, the news app can tell you all about it.

Finally (and this is my favorite part), the app allows you to select certain papers, magazines, or even topics to follow that you are interested in. You are then supplied with a massive list of stories coming from all different sources and subjects that are specifically tailored to what you want to read about. If you cannot stand politics, you do not have to see anything about Hillary Clinton and her emails. If you want nothing to do with celebrity news, you do not have to see the constant rehashing of Emmy wardrobes. The news app contains a great deal of personalization techniques,
one of which is the ability to save certain stories you just cannot get enough of. In its own little tab,
you can store all of the stories you might want to come back to in the future, just in case you ever need to prove a point to someone.

There are many news-related apps on the market available for both iPhone and non-iPhone users. This news app is simply a convenient way for those who do have an iPhone to get a hold of what is going on in the world. It is an easy way for even the most news-hating person out there to consume the information without despising every minute of it. My recommendation is this, if you have an iPhone and saw the news app appear with the update, check it out, it is worth your time, and if you do not have an iPhone, look around for a similar sounding way to view the news, whether it is an app like Flip-board, or just finding that local newsstand on campus. Being informed will honestly make all the difference.