Do you trust the internet?

mtbatoon

Sparked off by an interview on the radio today about the growth of independent news websites, do you see them as untrustworthy or do you think that with the freedom and exchange of information that the Internet provides a community can police itself and bring a truer picture than accredited sites?

Crumpet

I am always careful to be wary of false stories just like they said at the DC.

kls

Well lets see , the things i have learned from the jws and thought were true could not be proven , then using the Net i researched the jws and what they really are found that the net showed me how the jws are a cult and wrong and can back up their claim,so yes i can believe alot of what i read. Not to say all is true or real but research on your own with the Net shows it is a good tool of information.

Satanus

Are you suggesting that the standard tv/radio news is to be trusted??? That would be a laugh. There is lots of flakey stuff on the net. There is also everything that a person needs to find truth about what is going on in the world. But, it still comes down to the nature of the person doing the looking. People tend to settle on what agrees w their natures.
The net goes one step further than ordinary media. It has dicussion boards. This is where knowledge/facts are tested. People can put their beliefs where their mouths are, so to speak. If beliefs survive over time, there is a good chance that they are at least partially correct. Of course falsehoods do survive often for long times, but in the more objective types, they are cut down.

S

mtbatoon

Are you suggesting that the standard tv/radio news is to be trusted???

Slap me stupid and call me Susan if I am Satanus. No I'm fully aware that radio and TV bow to their paymasters. I'm becoming of the opinion that the Internet is actually getting more reliable. Take for example non news information. If I'm buying a new piece of hardware or software then I'll look it up on the Internet and study what's been said on forums. I trust them more than a paid reviewer.

Elsewhere

I trust the Internet to the extent that I can verify the information being presented. I also believe the unregulated nature of the internet has produced a user population that is far more intelligent, savvy, skeptical, and informed than what existed before the internet. In the past when someone read a news article they took it at face value and believed what was written without much question. Now with the Internet people read everything "with a grain of salt" and healthy skepticism. In the end, I believe much good has emerged from the Internet.

Regarding how many small news sources are emerging around the world, I see this as the media simply following a cycle that has been moving back and forth for a very long time. For a while you will find many small news sources and then over time they will merge resources due to market pressures. In time people become dissatisfied with having only a few news sources and start looking for more sources and this is where the market forces produce many new and small news sources to fill the market demand.... then the cycle repeats itself. History has shown that it can take 50 to 100 years for this cycle to go full circle.

RevFrank

I am fully aware of what the Watchtower teach as much as I trust the news media or the internet. Most news media are liberal and biased. What I hate more then the watchtower teaching young minds lies and misinformation is a news biased report that slants information that leads to their own liking.

chrissy

In time people become dissatisfied with having only a few news sources and start looking for more sources and this is where the market forces produce many new and small news sources to fill the market demand....

True. Still, the masses rely solely on their favorite network news, thinking they are getting delivered not just the facts but also the facts prioritized. I agree the Internet has totally revolutionized news availability (I mean, who doesnt agree to that though) but I suspect to a new generation of Internet users, somewhat limited in numbers, who are skeptical.

Two cheers for having the Internet and to be able to compare corporate media, all of these emerging independent sources, and international news coverage for consideration from a different angle. Can you imagine relying on say, gasp, fox news alone? yikes. scary thought.

personally, i compare these sources and feel I am getting a decent variety of info :

http://www.refdesk.com/ (lots of various sources all in one place)

www.elpais.es (lately...because I am studying spanish)

http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage (not for the conservative at heart)

http://www.indymedia.org/en/index.shtml (has a Seattle section & pretty much the only indie news source I visit online)

Do you trust the internet?

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