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December 08, 2004

What can you believe on the web?

A reporter called this morning to talk with me about web credibility. His question: What can you believe on the web? There are many ways to answer this, but here's one viewpoint I offered: You can believe what you *want* to believe -- nothing more, nothing less. This has been true throughout history. Fast forward to today . . . .The web accentuates our human frailties in processing information. A quick web search will usually support whatever preconceived ideas you have. In other words, you'll find information that confirms your expectations. As a result, today's web makes it much easier to believe what you want. I told the reporter this is bad news. He agreed. 

Posted by at December 8, 2004 09:27 AM

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