“Today I Learned”: 30 Interesting Things About The World That People Didn’t Know Until Recently (New Pics)

Professor McLendon told us that the way that we consume the news, and how it's produced, is definitely changing.

"People consume news from a much broader variety of sources, on a much wider set of platforms. We are awash in information and we are used to seeing it in small chunks," she explained to Bored Panda.

Journalists and editors, in turn, are reacting to these changes in their audience's preferences. Some outlets, for instance, expand to social media platforms where they have to format things very differently. Brevity and engagement become more important than in-depth reporting. But that's not to say that the latter has lost its appeal!

"News outlets know this and have adapted headlines to catch people’s eyes and presentation to keep the audiences engaged. For example, if you look at how news is presented on a platform like Instagram, it’s presented visually in a short video or series of images so people can quickly get the main point. Most of these changes have happened to optimize speed and engagement, not depth," McLendon explained.

Meanwhile, we were also curious about what can help motivate someone who is completely new to journalism to delve deeper into the stories they cover, while researching and writing them up.

"Depth is crucial for certain types of news stories, ones that aren’t easily summarized in a quick-hit format but nonetheless have great impact on people’s lives. Questions and creativity can help journalists stay motivated to delve deeper on a longer, more time-consuming story," Professor McLendon, from the University of Kansas, explained.

"One way to stay motivated is to first find out all the ways something affects people, then anticipate their questions: What does this mean for your audience? How can you show them why they should care? What questions might they have that you can help answer?"

Something else that can help is to think about how you can present the information in the best possible way so that your audience understands the issues and stays engaged.

"Usually this is not one big, long block of text—it may include photos, videos, maps, graphics, even interactive elements like a quiz. Thinking creatively about how to present a story can help a reporter stay motivated," she shared some practical advice.

The r/todayilearned subreddit is almost synonymous with Reddit, the front page of the internet, by now. Created all the way back in late 2008, the ‘Today I Learned’ community has grown by massive leaps and bounds since then. At the time of writing, there were a jaw-dropping 30.6 million TIL members. The sub is living, breathing proof of how much the internet loves education that’s presented in an entertaining way (aka ‘edutainment’).

Here at Bored Panda, we’re fascinated with the TIL community’s desire to learn and share new things with everyone who’ll listen. When you’re done reading our newest post about their fascinating facts, consider checking out our earlier features about them here, here, and here.

Learning is far more than just getting good grades, being attentive in class, and doing everything that your teacher asks you to. True learning requires a lot of initiative and independence. It’s something that parents can encourage their kids to prioritize while growing up.

Recently, Bored Panda got in touch with Lenore Skenazy, the president of Let Grow, a nonprofit promoting childhood independence and resilience, and the founder of the Free-Range Kids movement. She explained to us that it’s becoming a problem that school keeps becoming a bigger part of kids’ lives. In the past, children had a lot more free time to do activities outside of school. 

“Kids goofed around, played, explored. Now, with jam-packed schedules filled with adult-run activities, even those out-of-school hours are a lot LIKE school… except instead of learning fractions kids are learning lacrosse, or chess,” Skenazy said.

“Clever, normal kids turned into caged animals who despair they are no good, and their lives pointless. The answer? It’s so simple and so overlooked: Kids need more free time and free play—exactly what you loved most as a kid. Time spent making up games, practicing free throws, jumping rope, poking around in the woods—all of that is not wasted time. It’s a time when all of a kid’s senses are engaged and growing: Observation, participation, empathy, curiosity,” the childhood independence expert shared with us.

“It’s hard to see when you’re swimming in it, but kids learn so much from life, from friends, from siblings, from doing things on their own that they can NOT learn from an adult, even the most loving parent or gifted teacher. Give them back some free time, during the school day and after, and they will start to blossom,” Skenazy explained to Bored Panda.

Meanwhile, good grades aren’t the end-all, be-all indication that you’re doing well in life. “Quick! What was Einstein’s grade point average? How well did Dolly Parton score on her SATs? How many AP classes did Rachmaninoff take? Those questions are absurd. And so is the idea that a child is only as bright or talented as his grades and school performance,” Skenazy said.

“There are so many aspects to a person and yet so few are reflected in their report card. Creativity, kindness, a sense of humor, loyalty, wackiness—those aren’t measurable and so we forget they are even more valuable than an A+ on the spelling test.”