News & News Aggregates

news stories from many different news organizations, commentary, and some original news content

• Huffington Post
• Buzzfeed
• Metafilter
• The Daily Beast

Social Networks

tools to share ideas, opinions, news, and personal information 

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• Pinterest 

Encyclopedias & General Interest 

repositories of (mostly) free information intended to educate the general public

• ThoughtCo.
• Britannica
• Wikipedia
• All That's Interesting

Academic Indexes

directories of published and unpublished academic publications

• Google Scholar
• Academia.edu
• CiteUlike
• Researchgate

Government Agencies & Departments

websites and repositories of publicly available data, laws, and historical archives

• Library of Congress
• National Center for Education Statistics
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Bureau of Labor Statistics

Advocacy Groups & Organizations 

for-profit or non-profit group sites that present information to support a specific cause

• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
• National Rifle Association (NRA)
• People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
• American Heart Association

Universities & Research Institutes

academic sites that present data and analysis

• Pew Research Center
• Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
• Brookings Institute