I love the Internet. I have to, for I spend so much time on it.
You can't beat it for research. In fact, just about everything you've ever wanted to know is probably in some cranny in cyberspace.
The downside is, just about everything you've ever wanted to know is probably in some cranny in cyberspace.
It's real easy to get crammed up in a state of information overload, even if you're a dedicated RSS'er like I am. I use Google Reader for my news feeds, and right now my reading list is several thousand articles. Of course, I'm not going to read all of them. I might not even scan all the headlines.
But what's even worse is that there's no real way of knowing, on the surface, what's true and what's not. Face it. Most of the stuff you read on the Internet will be pure, unadulterated crap.
That's often what happens when there's such a free flow of information. And the flow is a lot more free than it was even 20 years ago. But you sometimes get what you pay for.
Back in the day, the only way I could write this column so it can be read by more than a handful of people is to hook on with a newspaper. That means polishing up my resume, finding a publisher crazy enough to hire me, and cracking the editorial page. By then I will have been vetted, somewhat. The publisher could make a few phone calls to learn I'm OK as long as I take my medication, that I can be trusted with the news content, and that I wouldn't get drunk and file stories about the UFO landing on my roof. OK, a few Janet Cooks and Jayson Blairs may fall through the cracks, but for the most part the publisher can rest assured he's getting the genuine article (though no promises he's not getting a loose cannon in the bargain, but let's not go there).
Now, it's a lot easier. I just set up an account on Blogspot or some other blogging service (cost: free), set up my graphics, and write whenever I get a hankering to do so. It's up to the reader to determine whether I'm dumping a whole load of snow in his lap, and if I am, so what? Let the buyer (or surfer) beware.
This is why the so-called establishment press holds bloggers with disdain. Anyone can blog, while not everyone can report the news with some semblance of accuracy. A real journalist usually has some sort of college training, and he has to have a certain mindset to do the job. All a blogger needs is a computer.
Iin truth, though, it's a lot harder these days to find real reporters who produce the news without worrying about the consequences. To be done right, the reporter has to either own the presses or be kindred spirits with the guy who does. Either that, or get used to being fired a lot.
Marshall McLuhan, the Canadian thinker who foresaw the global village long before it happened, said it best: "Whereas Caxton and Gutenberg enabled all men to become readers, Xerox has enabled all men to become publishers." MacLuhan has been dead since 1980. What would he think if he was around to surf the Internet today? Might he give up all his credentials and raise hairless chinchillas instead?
Develop enough Internet presence (and really, it doesn't take much for Surfin' Joe) and your email box will soon be crowded with a bunch of communications marked Fw: -- and when I see these, my delete finger gets itchy. About the only exception I make is Fw's from family members, because sometimes they become subjects for ... this blog.
In your Fw's you might get a list of quotes attributed to George Carlin, or something else like that. Not too long ago, I got one from Mom sharing an essay from former Chrysler head Lee Iaccoca. When I get these, I always feel the need to go to the filter: the debunker's site snopes.com. Here are some of the things I checked out:
- Putting I C E (In Case of Emergency) on your cell phone -- true, sort of. It's one of those things that can't hurt.
- Dialing *77 for emergencies -- false, and a total waste of valuable time.
- Most recently, the piece about the USS New York, a ship with some parts made from steel recovered from the World Trade Center site -- it's one of those feelgood stories, and surprisingly, it's true.
- A very scary plug for DriveCleaner, which turned out to be one of the bottom feeders in the computer security industry. OK, this is an older one. It's in my old blog, and you'll need to scroll down. Still relevant.
Warnings and Swiss cheese
My brother Rick (who suggested this subject in a recent email) and I are of the same mind here. I can't remember all the particulars, but it was a virus warning Mom sent along. It was great, well meaning, but it was misinformation. Anyway, Rick and I researched the subject independently, and we discovered the same thing -- it was indeed misinformation. I sent a note to Mom saying so, while Rick went a little further. His missive went out to all the folks on Mom's mailing list, reassuring them that they can enjoy their computers now.
OK, what's the harm in sending out a little misinformation?
On the surface, not much. You, the sender, have your 15 minutes of infamy. It'll be forgotten tomorrow. Besides, there's so much crap on the Internet that looks so good, it's easy to pass something along as the real deal.
But, I'm convinced the more misinformation goes out, the more our brains turn into Swiss cheese. Most people won't trouble themselves to research something; they'll believe it and pass it along instead. But then, many folks will believe something because their favorite pop icon du jour said it's so. That's why Barbra Streisand carries so much weight. Instead of yet another former performer, she's a political pundit. Same thing with Michael Moore, the Dixie Chicks, Paris Hilton, or whoever.
It's already a given that people these days are a lot smarter in some ways, and a lot dumber in others, than they used to be. You can sit and place blame all day long, but what used to be an ironclad set of facts is now elastic. Subjects like history and the sciences are quite unforgiving and narrowminded with the facts -- either something happened or it didn't, either something works in this manner or it didn't. Some things just can't be rewritten no matter how hard you try.
And some things -- yes, like history -- do get rewritten a lot. Back in the days of the Soviet Union, the citizaens were told the Russkies invented the car, television, and anything else of any consequence.
When misinformation is repeated often enough, then a lot more people will take it to be fact. But just because the majority may believe something to be fact doesn't make it so. It doesn't even matter what sources you cite; you still can not change black into white.
Unfortunately, so many people -- and those numbers seem to be growing -- are easily impressed when you mention sources. It makes no difference whether the source knows anything about the subject he's sounding off about. What does a washed-up pop singer know about politics? What inside information does an ultraliberal movie director have on 9/11?
And you say you heard about such-and-such on the Internet? Boy, I'm impressed ...
Let's cut to the chase here. Surf away. Have fun. But keep in mind there's a lot of crap out there in cyberworld, and so much of it sounds good. Surf with your hip waders on. Best to practice that credo that was part of the indoctrination of many an old journalist (with apologies to my own mom, who loves me):
"If your mother says she loves you, check it out."
You can't beat it for research. In fact, just about everything you've ever wanted to know is probably in some cranny in cyberspace.
The downside is, just about everything you've ever wanted to know is probably in some cranny in cyberspace.
It's real easy to get crammed up in a state of information overload, even if you're a dedicated RSS'er like I am. I use Google Reader for my news feeds, and right now my reading list is several thousand articles. Of course, I'm not going to read all of them. I might not even scan all the headlines.
But what's even worse is that there's no real way of knowing, on the surface, what's true and what's not. Face it. Most of the stuff you read on the Internet will be pure, unadulterated crap.
That's often what happens when there's such a free flow of information. And the flow is a lot more free than it was even 20 years ago. But you sometimes get what you pay for.
Back in the day, the only way I could write this column so it can be read by more than a handful of people is to hook on with a newspaper. That means polishing up my resume, finding a publisher crazy enough to hire me, and cracking the editorial page. By then I will have been vetted, somewhat. The publisher could make a few phone calls to learn I'm OK as long as I take my medication, that I can be trusted with the news content, and that I wouldn't get drunk and file stories about the UFO landing on my roof. OK, a few Janet Cooks and Jayson Blairs may fall through the cracks, but for the most part the publisher can rest assured he's getting the genuine article (though no promises he's not getting a loose cannon in the bargain, but let's not go there).
Now, it's a lot easier. I just set up an account on Blogspot or some other blogging service (cost: free), set up my graphics, and write whenever I get a hankering to do so. It's up to the reader to determine whether I'm dumping a whole load of snow in his lap, and if I am, so what? Let the buyer (or surfer) beware.
This is why the so-called establishment press holds bloggers with disdain. Anyone can blog, while not everyone can report the news with some semblance of accuracy. A real journalist usually has some sort of college training, and he has to have a certain mindset to do the job. All a blogger needs is a computer.
Iin truth, though, it's a lot harder these days to find real reporters who produce the news without worrying about the consequences. To be done right, the reporter has to either own the presses or be kindred spirits with the guy who does. Either that, or get used to being fired a lot.
Marshall McLuhan, the Canadian thinker who foresaw the global village long before it happened, said it best: "Whereas Caxton and Gutenberg enabled all men to become readers, Xerox has enabled all men to become publishers." MacLuhan has been dead since 1980. What would he think if he was around to surf the Internet today? Might he give up all his credentials and raise hairless chinchillas instead?
Develop enough Internet presence (and really, it doesn't take much for Surfin' Joe) and your email box will soon be crowded with a bunch of communications marked Fw: -- and when I see these, my delete finger gets itchy. About the only exception I make is Fw's from family members, because sometimes they become subjects for ... this blog.
In your Fw's you might get a list of quotes attributed to George Carlin, or something else like that. Not too long ago, I got one from Mom sharing an essay from former Chrysler head Lee Iaccoca. When I get these, I always feel the need to go to the filter: the debunker's site snopes.com. Here are some of the things I checked out:
- Putting I C E (In Case of Emergency) on your cell phone -- true, sort of. It's one of those things that can't hurt.
- Dialing *77 for emergencies -- false, and a total waste of valuable time.
- Most recently, the piece about the USS New York, a ship with some parts made from steel recovered from the World Trade Center site -- it's one of those feelgood stories, and surprisingly, it's true.
- A very scary plug for DriveCleaner, which turned out to be one of the bottom feeders in the computer security industry. OK, this is an older one. It's in my old blog, and you'll need to scroll down. Still relevant.
Warnings and Swiss cheese
My brother Rick (who suggested this subject in a recent email) and I are of the same mind here. I can't remember all the particulars, but it was a virus warning Mom sent along. It was great, well meaning, but it was misinformation. Anyway, Rick and I researched the subject independently, and we discovered the same thing -- it was indeed misinformation. I sent a note to Mom saying so, while Rick went a little further. His missive went out to all the folks on Mom's mailing list, reassuring them that they can enjoy their computers now.
OK, what's the harm in sending out a little misinformation?
On the surface, not much. You, the sender, have your 15 minutes of infamy. It'll be forgotten tomorrow. Besides, there's so much crap on the Internet that looks so good, it's easy to pass something along as the real deal.
But, I'm convinced the more misinformation goes out, the more our brains turn into Swiss cheese. Most people won't trouble themselves to research something; they'll believe it and pass it along instead. But then, many folks will believe something because their favorite pop icon du jour said it's so. That's why Barbra Streisand carries so much weight. Instead of yet another former performer, she's a political pundit. Same thing with Michael Moore, the Dixie Chicks, Paris Hilton, or whoever.
It's already a given that people these days are a lot smarter in some ways, and a lot dumber in others, than they used to be. You can sit and place blame all day long, but what used to be an ironclad set of facts is now elastic. Subjects like history and the sciences are quite unforgiving and narrowminded with the facts -- either something happened or it didn't, either something works in this manner or it didn't. Some things just can't be rewritten no matter how hard you try.
And some things -- yes, like history -- do get rewritten a lot. Back in the days of the Soviet Union, the citizaens were told the Russkies invented the car, television, and anything else of any consequence.
When misinformation is repeated often enough, then a lot more people will take it to be fact. But just because the majority may believe something to be fact doesn't make it so. It doesn't even matter what sources you cite; you still can not change black into white.
Unfortunately, so many people -- and those numbers seem to be growing -- are easily impressed when you mention sources. It makes no difference whether the source knows anything about the subject he's sounding off about. What does a washed-up pop singer know about politics? What inside information does an ultraliberal movie director have on 9/11?
And you say you heard about such-and-such on the Internet? Boy, I'm impressed ...
Let's cut to the chase here. Surf away. Have fun. But keep in mind there's a lot of crap out there in cyberworld, and so much of it sounds good. Surf with your hip waders on. Best to practice that credo that was part of the indoctrination of many an old journalist (with apologies to my own mom, who loves me):
"If your mother says she loves you, check it out."
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