First, before you go any further into this i'm not talking about "misinformed opinions" or "halfbaked opinions" or whatever you want to call them. I'm talking about people that have opinions that are well informed or pertain to subjects that don't require information such as a view/opinion on a movie, book, etc... .

The main reason I ask is lately I see on news reports, forums, and other media outlets where people are criticized for their opinion. It comes to a point where the poster of said opinion is lead to believe their opinion is wrong. However, growing up, I was expressly taught that an opinion cannot be wrong due to it being a view on a particular subject matter.

So, are opinions wrong? (Again, we're talking about informed opinions or opinions on matters that don't require them to be informed.)

An opinion can't be wrong if it can't be disproved by fact. If it can be disproved, it's a fact and not an opinion.

But it can be stupid.

Some opinions are more correct than others. For example if you are ignorant about a specific topic, someone educated in it may have a better opinion on the matter.

We are all entitled to have our own opinions, no matter how good or stupid they may be.

I don't think opinions can be flat out wrong. The only time I consider them wrong is when they're misinformed as you said ('my opinion is that the earth is flat'). Or you could consider an opinion 'wrong' when someone states it as if it were a fact but it's actually subjective ('Skyrim is the best game ever made').

No, of course not. If someone has an opinion on something subjective like a book or movie then there's nothing to be wrong about.

Like Frodo said, they can't be wrong but they can be, and usually are, stupid.

This.

No, not at all.

It's just that people don't deliver arguments much these days when they argue, they just say the opinion is wrong but not why. It's the easiest and one of the worst ways to handle an argument. In my opinion

Sometimes I feel like the arrival of the internet been dumbing down our population when it comes to some things, like doing an argument with another person. But this is probably not correct in a more broader sense.

This is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, there been such a strong focus on "opinions aren't fact" on the internet the past couple of years that you're pretty much forced to write "In my opinon..." to not get those kind of useless replies, when it's very obvious it's my opinion and not fact.

Media outlets are not interested in debate or even looking at both sides of a story. They are only interested in getting across the point of view that most benefits their corporate ownership.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but people seem to take that and bend it in odd ways. Opinions are not an ace in the hole for an argument nor should they be used to justify a belief that is clearly wrong.