On Feb. 18, a Yik Yak post went viral that criticized a recent column in The Daily Tar Heel titled “Ditch the internship, embrace other summer opportunities.”
The author of the post claimed that the article was written from a position of privilege since not everyone can afford to just “have fun” and not work over the summer. However, if they had read the full article, they might have discovered that half of the writer’s suggestions involved getting a summer job that was low-stress, fun and enjoyable.
Here at the Opinion Desk, we believe the best opinions are uninformed. The reason why we write thought-provoking pieces that introduce niche perspectives is so that our readers can counter with their own opinions after not reading the full article. It is the highest honor as a journalist for our audience to only read the 50-word hook of a 600+ word column and have an uneducated discourse about it online.
The best place to bring your angry criticisms is that highly-esteemed academic platform Yik Yak. Powered by anonymity, it’s the perfect spot to drop unproductive feedback about why you hate an article that you did not fully examine. You can type whatever you want without the hassle of having to take accountability for your words. As the beacon of group polarization and mob mentality, it has five-star ratings for its ability to rile up others who haven’t read the column either.
Another hot spot for healthy debate is the Instagram page of The DTH. The DTH posts a few paragraphs of an article for your convenience; we wouldn’t want you wasting your time extensively reading an article in its entirety. Without this nuisance, you’ll have adequate time and energy to develop a strong opinion to blast in the comments section. It’s important that your judgments are as unenlightened as possible.
Our articles are tagged “Opinion” and not “Lifestyle,” “University” or “City & State” because we encourage uninformed discourse and low reader literacy. The best way to keep news outlets, especially student-run ones, accountable is through unproductive discussion. We enjoy conversations between diverse voices; voices of different races, genders and majors. But our favorite, most valued voice is that of the internet troll, the ignorant instigator.
Neglecting to read an entire article before offering up a fresh opinion is also beneficial because it makes the article more mysterious. A lack of evidence-based thought only makes your argument stronger, and the dust that collects on the sentences that you didn’t read would just make your rhetoric stale.
We also commend that this pattern of skimming and cherry picking is extended to places other than journalism. In research, for example, it’s incredibly important that when exploring scholarly sources, you ONLY read the abstract. Reading a monstrous three-page source can be taxing on the brain.
Uneducated opinions are an excellent way to indirectly show your respect for the writers and editors who put their time into an article. When we send an article off to get published, we genuinely look forward to the flood of criticism grounded in, well, nothing. The anticipation to call my mom and say, “Someone didn’t read my article but cussed it out online!” is one of the best feelings in the world.
