Internet Credibility and Impact

["Bill Thebert" <bthebert@domain.elided>]

The recent note from Rod Phillips (indirectly delivered via John Glancy)
raises some interesting points to ponder.

>> "In my opinion the internet is an
>> out-of-control forum where anyone with a modem can represent 
>> himself as an expert or critic at the expense of anyone he chooses." 

Information obtained from the Net MUST be taken with a grain of salt, and
the credibility of the source must be carefully considered.  Just because
it "comes from a computer" doesn't make it infallible information. 
Precisely because it is so very EASY to post an e-mail or a web page, this
is why information gleaned from such sources must NOT be blindly considered
as gospel truth.

I'm not sure where this "presumption of authority" comes from -- the
feeling that if some information comes from the Net, or if it's dressed up
handsomely on a web page, it must therefore be true.  The mere medium lends
no additional credibility to either the speaker or the message. 
Experienced users of the Net know this to be true, and brush off
unsubstantiated postings or patently false facts with little additional
thought.

Rob Marks thoughtfully adds:
>> KNOW YOUR IMPACT

People have forever been able to be obnoxious, unintentionally misleading, 
or deliberately malicious in their speech.  The medium of the Internet,
however, enables people to be all of these things to a much broader
audience and with lightning speed.  Combined with the "presumption of
authority" that I tried to describe above, the potential for impact is
multiplied even more.

The anonymity that the Net allows (or even encourages) makes it all the
more difficult to evaluate the source regarding a particular message.  It
is often virtually impossible to evaluate the speaker's background, state
of mind, possible motivation for communicating a particular message, etc.

I'm sorta rambling here; and talking off the top of my head.  But it does
seem that the Internet:

1) adds the illusion of credibility by virtue of the medium itself
2) accelerates the impact of one's speech -- for good or for bad
3) obscures the measures that most "listeners" use to judge the 
    credibility of the speaker 

In a hobby such as ours, someone could be killed or seriously injured by
bad advice presented with an aura of authority.  Bad advice regarding a
steering system modification, for example, could hazard not only the person
who took that advice, but everyone around him/her on a public highway.  

I think we all need to be very respectful of the extent of our potential
impact when posting facts or opinions in such a fast-paced and potentially
powerful medium as the Internet.

Regards,

Bill Thebert
The Binder Bulletin