Evaluating web content authenticity

EVALUATING WEB CONTENT AUTHENTICITY: “THE 5 W’S”*

*Source: Kathy Schrockhttp://www.schrockguide.net/uploads/3/9/2/2/392267/5ws.pdf

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/217/500471584_5897fbfc7d_b.jpg

“They can’t put anything on the Internet if it isn’t true”

Many of us have see this State Farm commercial, which helps to drive home the point that just because something is on the Internet, it does not make it true or factual. French model indeed.

(NOTE: This video does not appear to be on State Farm’s YouTube channel, I looked for it there, but many copies are. It can be found easily by searching for the title phrase on the top of this slide. This image is NOT used with permission, but credit is due to State Farm and the content is readily available.)

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bufTna0WArc*

Evaluating Web Content Authenticity: “The 5 W’s”*

So just how does one go about determining if

information published on the World Wide Web

is accurate?

Evaluating Web Content Authenticity: “The 5 W’s”*There are questions you can ask to help you think

about whether or not content you are looking at is legitimate and accurateEducation and Technology Blogger Kathy Schrock published a list of “The 5 W’s of Web Site Evaluation”. This offers a good set of questions to help us analyze and assess web-based content.

http://www.schrockguide.net/uploads/3/9/2/2/392267/5ws.pdf

Evaluating Web Content Authenticity: “The 5 W’s”*

WHO?

Evaluating Web Content Authenticity: “The 5 W’s”*

WHAT?

Evaluating Web Content Authenticity: “The 5 W’s”*

WHEN?

Evaluating Web Content Authenticity: “The 5 W’s”*

WHERE?

Evaluating Web Content Authenticity: “The 5 W’s”*WHY?

Applying the “The 5 W’s”Now, let’s use a couple sites as examples,

and ask “the 5 W’s” to assess their authority and validity.

An Example: Applying the “The 5 W’s” to EmergingEdTech.com

If you click the ‘About’ page link available in the top menu, you can

learn all about the site’s author and his

background

? WHO?

An Example: Applying the “The 5 W’s” to EmergingEdTech.com

? WHO?Additionally, each article

includes an Author’s Biography, often with a link to learn more about

them …

An Example: Applying the “The 5 W’s” to EmergingEdTech.com

? WHAT?

The site author explains the purpose

of the site on the About Page

An Example: Applying the “The 5 W’s” to EmergingEdTech.com

? WHEN?Every post has a published date (and the most recent one is at the top of the

Home Page)

An Example: Applying the “The 5 W’s” to EmergingEdTech.com

? WHERE?

We already answered this when examining the question of “Who”.

This may not always be the case and may sometime require further exploration.

An Example: Applying the “The 5 W’s” to EmergingEdTech.com

? WHY?

This question can often be a much deeper one than the others, which are often more ‘factual’.

In the case of EmergingEdTech, the site is clearly designed to provide information to educators.

For other sites, one must use one’s judgement to try and determine why someone might want to know the information provided and how it could be useful.

Applying the “The 5 W’s”Our assessment of EmergingEdTech.com shows

that we can answer ‘the 5 W’s’ pretty easily, making this site appear legitimate and

authoritative.

Now, let’s examine another site, where the answers are not see easy to find …

An Example: Applying the “The 5 W’s” to BanDHMO.org

There is no ‘About’ page or any other reference to the authors or organization sponsoring this

content, other than a self-referential mention of the site

itself as the “Coalition to ban DHMO”

? WHO?

… and what’s up with the misspelled “Obama“?

? WHAT?

While there are a lot of purported “facts” offered indicating that we should be scared about ‘DHMO’, there is no author statement, nor any references to legitimate information sources. In addition to a few broken links, there are quite a few links that lead to unrelated sites and pages, with no mention of DHMO. This is quite suspicious.

An Example: Applying the “The 5 W’s” to BanDHMO.org

An Example: Applying the “The 5 W’s” to BanDHMO.org

? WHEN?While there are dates on quotes on the site,

there is no specific date for the content.

“January 15 and June 15 each year …”, and the “All rights reserved” phrase is preceded by a reference to “1995-2xxx”. These generic references seem highly suspicious and look like exactly the type of things a site might do appear ‘always up to date’ without actually having to provide specific dates.

There is a generic statement indicating that the site is updated

? WHERE?

There are no references to the site to any legitimate sources or additional information (other than some links to other sites and pages which have no information on them about ‘DHMO’).

An Example: Applying the “The 5 W’s” to BanDHMO.org

An Example: Applying the “The 5 W’s” to BanDHMO.org

? WHY?

The site seems designed to frighten viewers, but our analysis of the preceding 4 W’s indicates that there is no reason to believe any of what is being stated is valid or legitimate. It is a logical conclusion that the site is either out to scare us for no reason, or it is a hoax.

is all washed up!

Conclusion:

An Example: Applying the “The 5 W’s” to BanDHMO.org

In fact, “DHMO”, or “Dihydrogen Monoxide” is simply …

SOURCES: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Elektronenformel_Punkte_H20_1.svg/2000px-Elektronenformel_Punkte_H20_1.svg.png; https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/H20.png; https://pixabay.com/p-321524/

WATER!