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Don’t Get Caught In A Web Of Deception:
More and more I hear from parents about information that they have accessed on the Internet, some of it legitimate and some of it startling. Remember, the web has abundant and highly researched information, but it is also “littered with pages of inaccuracies, partial truths, and outright lies.” (2) Often an inaccurate statement is picked up and quoted on another website, search engines index the inaccurate pages, and the lie is accepted as reality. (3) Discerning what is true and what is not on the Internet is often very difficult. Any one person or group can create a website, and intermediaries, like libraries, librarians, and publishers, are not part of the process of filtering or gaining control of the information. (4) So, what is a person to do when seeking information on the web? Parents must keep in mind that although much of the information is not wrong, the web often details issues of opinion rather than fact. You can agree with this opinion and it might bolster your theories, but it is not necessarily fact. There are many counterfeit web sites, spoof and parody sites, hate sites, and product sites, where serious questions must be asked about the intent of the person or group dispersing the information. This is especially true in the area of medicine. (5) It is always good to check out reliable public health sites, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov), Quackwatch (http://www.quackwatch.com), The American Academy of Pediatrics (www.aap.org), immunization information (www.immunizationinfo.org), and also web sites for the Medical Society of New Jersey, New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, and leading university and hospital sites. Another good resource is a book entitled, “Web of Deception,” by Anne Mintz, which is a collection of essays, authored by experts in the information industry, about intentionally wrong or misleading information on the Internet. Here is her checklist of criteria you can use to evaluate the validity of information that you find on a website. (6)
Sources: (1) http://www.smileycat.com (2) http://searchenginewatch.com (3) http://searchenginewatch.com (4) http://www.ccsr.cse.dmu.ac.uk (5) http://www.infotoday.com (6) http://www.lexinexis.com Barbara Podberesky, R.N., B.A. [ top ] |
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Listening to parents’ concerns, questions and opinions is a large part of pediatrics. As Internet access increases, more families are consulting the World Wide Web for answers to their questions, or for confirmation for their opinions about medicine and child rearing. In the past, parents would turn to Dr. Spock or Dr. T. Berry Brazelton for education, and although they remain as resources, the Internet has provided a vast amount of information from other sources. However, “just because something’s written on a web site doesn’t mean that it is true. Know your author, question everything and learn to separate opinion from fact.” (1)
Parents need to get as much information as they can regarding issues about their children. The Internet is a marvelous tool that provides us with an extraordinary amount of information. However, in accepting this knowledge, we must be especially critical about where it comes from. Good Luck!
