Verified Chapter 4 – Lateral Reading: Using the web to read the web
A website may seem like it has good information, but does it have good intentions? What does it support? What does it provide? It may be helpful in some aspects but then turn around and totally dismiss a group of people. You can’t always place your faith in your smarts when looking at different sites. No matter how intelligent you are, some website could probably dupe you. “The web is a web, a galaxy of electronically connected sources.” There is definitely one in that galaxy that may be able to fool you.
When it comes to looking into these websites to see if they’re all that, make sure to use lateral reading, Investigate (SIFT), and use click restraint. Check the tabs, what all is there to this source. My favorite quote from this text would be “You use the web to read the web.” You can literally use the internet and check other sites to see if this website is even good. Don’t just check the first page of results either. Scroll all the way and even check out page 2 just in case. Vertical to lateral reading will have a big pay off in the end to not getting duped. Also, don’t just click something immediately. Stop and check over it before mindlessly clicking. Always find a better source if things seem iffy.
Verified Chapter 5 – Reading the Room: Benefiting from the expertise when you have only a bit yourself
Not everything is trustworthy (even if it’s legit). You can’t just do the math. You can’t always rely on others. So what are we to do? You could use an expert you know yourself. But what if you don’t have an expert for something? You gotta do the work yourself to find what you deem right. The F in SIFT is very important here. Find a better source and do what work you can.
Don’t minimize problems either. Many things may be bigger problems than the other possible choices. You don’t want to jump off a cliff when you could use the rickety bridge. Sure it isn’t sturdy but it’s better than jumping. Always get a lay of the land (the internet land) and see what your options are. Investigate in SIFT is very helpful when it comes to checking sources to see which is the most trustworthy. Always zoom out and read the room, distinguishing little problems from giant failings. Also, never rely solely on a single self-proclaimed expert. They could be spreading false information and that is something we never want to do.
Basically, always assess what you’re looking at. You never know what is truly trustworthy on the internet.
Comments
One response to “Who to Trust on the Internet? Is There Anyone?”
This was a nice refresher of the two chapters from the book! I honestly forgot a bit of what the two chapters were about but you do a great job getting to the big picture, and in the chapter four section I like how you included your own personal opinions. I would have liked to hear more about your thoughts with the fifth chapter like you did with the fourth.
I know that one thing that I found myself thinking with that fifth chapter is that even if you think you’re an expert there’s still a lot that you don’t know. Overall, though you wrap up the two chapters nicely.