We live in a day when information is increasingly available at the touch of a fingertip.

What is the weather forecast for next week in Powell? In Atlanta? In London? All it takes to find out is a quick check of your favorite weather app or website.

What is the price of oil today? What bills is the Wyoming Legislature considering this session? What is a good recipe for slow-cooked chicken and vegetables?

Again, a quick check of the Internet will provide the answers.

Unfortunately, misinformation, whether deliberate or unintentional, is accumulating at least as fast, and probably even faster.

Social media has become the newest and fastest way of spreading information, and misinformation. When perusing Facebook, it doesn’t take long to find the latest rumors and scare tactics regarding anything from politics to diet, or the most recent versions of urban legends, some of which have been circulating for decades.

We frequently see misinformation in online comments about news stories as well, including those posted on legitimate and reputable news sites.

For instance, a recent story by the Powell Tribune that was re-posted elsewhere on Facebook about a plan by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to kill brookies in Eagle Creek and restock the stream with cutthroat trout became a forum for fear mongering.

Some commenters decided, on a gut-reaction level, that rotenone, the chemical the department planned to use to kill the brookies, posed a danger to other animals and people as well. But that just isn’t true. Rotenone is harmful only to gilled animals, and biologists use another chemical to neutralize it so it doesn’t harm other fish downstream.

Another story about a bill that proposed to eliminate daylight saving time in Wyoming drew comments asking what Congress was thinking in considering such a proposal, and making comparisons to Alaska. Both commenters were misinformed. The bill was up for consideration by the Wyoming Legislature, not Congress, and it had nothing to do with Alaska.

And that’s just a peek into recent responses to a couple of stories in the Powell Tribune. When you add misinformation from online comments worldwide, in addition to social media posts, political fanaticism, scare tactics, incorrect or false information, misguided or irresponsible blog posts and fear mongering, you begin to get a picture of the scale of the problem.

It’s a shame that, with accurate and credible information so readily available, there also is so much misinformation circulated.

It is up to us to be responsible about seeking information online from credible sources, and to research and weigh that information before reaching conclusions about it.

Each of us has a right to our own opinions. We’re not always going to view the same issue the same way, and that’s good. A variety of viewpoints, when considered together or through compromise, offers a greater chance of understanding, whatever the issue.

But misinformation hinders and inhibits understanding. It serves only to confuse and detract from knowledge and enlightenment.

We have a greater opportunity now than ever before to gather important and accurate information. Anything less is not worthy of our time or attention.