NEWS

Don't Be Fooled by the Pros or the Cons

By Sherry Harowitz
06/08/2010 -

“Consider the source.” That’s advice too seldom heeded, especially when it comes to information on the Internet. The problem is exacerbated by the rise of what I’ll call social referencing, where the average reader relies on other people they may or may not know personally to find what’s interesting. We see that “Fred” found X interesting. We like other stuff Fred liked, so we go there. Site X gains a certain credibility from Fred’s pointing to it that it may not deserve.

For example, I recently got directed to a site that appeared to offer independent news commentary about the financial troubles in the United States. There was something about the rant that made me wonder, “Who is this guy?” A little digging led to a surprising finding. The show is hosted by Press TV, which is funded by the Iranian government. Ahhh. That rant against Wall Street that seemed to indict the whole evil capitalist system was making a little more sense. Unfortunately, I doubt most of the people drawn there have any inkling of the Iranian connection.
 
(To continue reading "Don't Be Fooled by the Pros or the Cons," click here.)

Comments

View Recent News (by day)

 

ASIS 2010 Seminar