Information Credibility on the Internet

Information Credibility on the Internet

Tara Wells

CMGT/530

May 30, 2011

Facilitator: AJ Williams

Information Credibility on the Internet

The Internet provides a wealth of information to a variety of users. A consumer that chooses to utilize the Internet to purchase a product or service hopes that the site used is one that will not only fulfill a need, but also protect their personal information and provide for a safe transaction. As a student or teacher that accesses the Internet for research, their expectation is that the information obtained is both useful and reliable. For the general user that surfs the Internet for mere entertainment or to find something as simple as a phone number or address to a business, their hope is that the information found is reliable. The scenarios listed above are ones that many of us are very familiar with. However, it is unfortunate the experiences in some of these situations have not always been pleasant when it is found that the information is not credible. Could this have been avoided? According to King (2009), there are ten components we can check for when determining Internet credibility. They are: authority, credentials, purpose, accuracy, timeliness, coverage, validity, integrity, bias, and comparison.

Authority and Credentials

Knowledge can be found in a matter of seconds just by typing it in a few key terms from within a search engine (King, 2009). This can be both a good and bad thing. Two components that the end user can check for in determining credibility is the authority of the information and the credentials of the author. When the user finds a website that appears to have credible information, it is not always standard practice to check the credentials of the author or browse the author's name to see if he has any other published information on the web or another publication. As the user, we trust that the information is reliable, but this is not always the case. The advent of the Internet brought about the ability for just about anyone to become an author (King, 2009). This is why it is so important to engage in taking a step further in verifying information.

Purpose and Accuracy

When a user types in information to search on the Internet, there is a purpose or a reason. In doing this, the user should also look for the author's purpose of the information published on the Internet. This is another way to determine the credibility of the information on the Internet. Is the purpose of your research to get new ideas, to find either factual or reasoned support for a position, to survey opinion, or something else (Harris, 2010)? Once you decide on this, you will be able to screen sources much more quickly by testing them against your research goal (Harris, 2010). If you are solely looking for content, but you keep getting pop ups to purchase something or you are blatantly asked to pay for the information you need, this may not be the site for what you were looking for. Therefore, your purpose for searching for the information or the purpose of the author is not what you were seeking. When looking for any type information, most of us would want information that is accurate. Looking into the accuracy of the information found on the Internet is also a way to determine credibility. Information on the web that is riddled with misspellings can be a clear indicator of poor content. In addition, the context of the information may be conflicting with what you know or it may be incomplete. Even though a very credible writer said something that was correct twenty years ago, it may not be correct today (Harris, 2010). Similarly, a reputable source might be giving up-to-date information, but the information may be only partial, and not give the full story (Harris, 2010). It is also good to test the accuracy of the information found on the web with what you personally know as true. If there is conflicting information, this information may not be reliable.

Timeliness/Currency and Coverage

According to Harris (2010), the facts we learn today may be timely now, but tomorrow will not be. When an Internet user is looking for information, the type of information needed can impact whether it is a credible or reliable source. Checking to see when the data was last updated on a website is another way to help determine the credibility of information (King, 2009). Information obtained today with a time stamp of