No oversight,
no editing, no limit
to public gullibility
The Internet is one of the most revolutionary technological developments of our times — maybe of all times. I use it when I can, as best I can, considering my primitive and limited comprehension.
But I am also appalled by the Internet. Anyone can say anything he or she pleases, and it’s out there for the world to absorb.
It needn’t be accurate, it needn’t be fair, it needn’t make sense — there it is. As bad as newspapers and newscasts can be (and they can be bad), nothing is published without some oversight by at least one other person, usually more. Personally, I’d never want anything I wrote to be published or broadcast without at least one other set of eyes.
‘I read it on the Internet’
On the Internet, however, there are no editors, there is no supervision over whatever someone wants to spew. What a medium for the lunatic fringe! What a conduit for misinformation, for misconception, for personal spite!
This was glaringly apparent in the presidential race. An embarrassed John McCain had to rein in some followers
who had swallowed Internet-fed misconceptions. Barack Hussein Obama’s odd name and unique background gave rise to a string of far-out claims.
When asked for the source, the usual response was “I read it on the Internet.”
Similarly absurd anecdotes were circulated, as fact, about Sarah Palin, stories with just enough believability to gain wide credence.
‘Everyone knows ...’
Float one cockeyed story out there in “Online Land.” Others pick it up and circulate it, and suddenly, it’s gospel — something everyone knows is true.
Except it isn’t.
Valuable information and insights are available on the Internet, and some blogs are a joy to read. But Internet irresponsibility is a growing danger to all of us.
Problem is our gullibility
The problem is less those spreading the garbage than it is those who accept it uncritically.
There have always been gullible people who believe everything they read, but what they did read usually (not always, I’m afraid) had been researched and overseen.
On the Internet, bizarre conspiracy theories and urban legends abound. False attribution is common. So is unsubstantiated “fact.” And many people have no way of differentiating between fact and fantasy.
Most people don’t know about or don’t care to check www.snopes.com, an independent site that investigates Internet-based rumors and innuendo.
We believe what we want to
Each of us, no matter how sophisticated, believes what we want to believe. So when someone circulates a claim or charge, substantiated or not, if we want to believe it, we do.
Widespread circulation, on the Internet, of frequently incendiary misinformation is already a serious threat, but the real menace is still ahead. Misuse of the Internet is bound to continue, and negative forces will become more and more skillful at using it to manipulate others.
Demagoguery by Internet is a very real threat — to all of us.