Consumers Info USA

Simple Tips To Feel More Comfortable About The Information
That You Get From The Internet or On Your Mobile Device

There is no question that the Internet is a tremendous resource that many of us now have in our homes and is available right at our finger tips.

If you think about it then you will agree it was really not all that long ago when there were no cell phones, desktop computers, ipads, or tablets, etc. The basic network structure that we call the internet has been around for a number of years but was only used by colleges and military etc. to communicate with each other.  What we now take for granted as the internet only became popular with the general public around the mid 90s.

 

But it is important to remember, that the Internet is simply a network of computers. There is no person or government organization that controls or monitors the entire internet. There are no editorial standards of any kind.

Anybody can set up a Web site and present any kind of information he or she wishes, whether it is 100% legitimate or 100% bogus. Depending on the type, and intent, of the information there are government agencies that a particular website is in violation of a particular law and then have the power to shut down that website.

But that is only one website… after it is brought to the attention of officials… after thousands of people have already visited it.

The point is that just like grocery store tabloids like the National Enquirer, etc. there is a massive amount of misinformation on the internet. A lot may be completely unintentional and the people creating the website may truly believe what they are saying. And there is the intentional deceptions, misinformation, scams, rip-offs, etc.

Here are some general ways of knowing the good from the bad:

Look for Web sites that belong to well known and reputable groups and  organizations like ABC or CNN for example. Of course, even major news publishers like the New York Times have on occasion printed inaccurate information. But the goal is to significantly reduce your odds of getting bad information.

 

• Domain names can also give a very general idea of how reliable an information source is. Look for websites that are .gov, .org. or .edu. Again the goal is to increase the likelihood the information is credible and in general those domains are more difficult to get than .com or .net etc.
• Look for who wrote the information. The  author’s name, credentials, and an e-mail address.  If there is no identification on who wrote, when it was written, or any kind of contact info then that should be a red flag.
• Does the Web site cite its sources? Anyone can make up facts and figures; if facts and figures are attributed to a specific source, you can verify that they are accurate.
• Then lastly you can double or triple check the information by going to other websites on the very same topic to see if the information matches, or if there is some major contradiction, etc.

These are just a couple of simple tips to help you enjoy and get the most of your online information searches.

Here are some recent website posting on a variety of topics that many people may find interesting:

https://infousa1.wordpress.com/
http://gregford.typepad.com/blog/
http://infousa1.blogspot.com/
http://infousa1.multiply.com/
http://infousa1.tumblr.com/

http://www.tumblr.com/tumblelog/infousa1

http://aluniversity.edu/elearning/blog/index.php?userid=6820
http://blog.case.edu/admission/2011/02/13/feeling_a_little_philanthropic
http://medschool.slu.edu/moodle/user/view.php?id=20270&course=1
http://denali.cedu.niu.edu/groups/coetraining/weblog/7cd13/Lighten_Skin_Naturally.html
http://dl.njit.edu/moodle/user/view.php?id=1204&course=1
http://forums.saa.edu/profile.php?section=personal&id=239263
http://id.ome.ksu.edu/blog/2010/jan/6/native-american-student-success
http://opensees.berkeley.edu/community/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=36962
http://oad.simmons.edu/oadwiki/Gford
http://www.ucsm.edu.pe/emedicina/blog/index.php?filtertype=site&
https://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/bbs/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=5558
http://rockhopper.monmouth.edu/cshelp/Gford
http://wiki.monroe.edu/index.php/User:Gford
http://wiki.snu.edu/as/index.php5/User_talk:Gford
http://osi.parsons.edu/archive/osi2007/?q=blog/13559
http://tncceng.academia.edu/gregford/About
http://www.ucsm.edu.pe/emedicina/blog/index.php?filtertype=site&
http://xserve.menominee.edu/groups/stoehrl/weblog/15f65
https://my.uarts.edu/blog/libraries/2010/07/27/sumfa-food-for-thought-lecture-series-kathleen-gilrain
https://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/bbs/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=5558