Can You Trust The Internet?

[k_nitin_r 8]

The Internet is a medium rather than a source. A source is something like the CNN news website, Wikipedia, a blog setup by the teenager next door, or the butcher's store website. When it comes to trusting the Internet, sure you can - you can transmit information securely in an encrypted manner such that all of the information that you send across will be transmitted in an unaltered manner. On the other hand, there are some sources such as Wikipedia that can be altered by just about anybody so if you did have an ulterior motive, you could alter a page to say that you are a better service provider than your competitor and if that went unnoticed by anyone maintaining the page, you would be reaping the benefits through increased sales. On the other hand, there are peer-reviewed journals that publish online and they are quite reputable. Then, there are articles through CNN, Reuters, BBC, Fox News, and others of the kind that are usually reliable, but not always so. When Ravi Shankar, a musician of Indian origin died, they displayed a picture of a totally different Ravi Shankar who is well-known for yoga. That exact same mistake was made by MTV. So, the next time you read something online and want to decide if it is reliable, check the source. Determine if it is something that comes from an authoritative source and if they have made any errors in the past. Last, but not the least, you should trust your judgment. If something is too good to be true, it probably isn't.

[mamer 0]

I think we might agree that information on the internet is not all false, and it’s not all true. Take this forum site for example, of course, I can post about some topic and write a post with some false information but there are many people around here who wouldn’t take what I’m saying for granted. That kind of topic will have many replies that prove that what I wrote was nonsense. They will put that in a nice way I hope:)

I think the problem is not with the internet itself as much as it’s with the way people search for information. If I’m happy with the first piece of information that’s thrown at me by the search engines then it’s my fault. Depending on how important the information that I’m looking for, I would spend more time in my research cross checking and authenticating resources. I might not be doing that if I’m looking for a cake recipe but I would definitely if I’m preparing a presentation for the board meeting.