Technology empowers individuals to share their thoughts and views with the world. At the same time, this also contributes to the spread of misinformation. To encourage critical thinking in the digital age, here are Tutor Doctor’s tips for evaluating online information.
Domains: the old rules need a few adjustments
If you were a student in the 90s or 2000s, you may recall being told a “general rule” that certain domain names were safer: specifically .gov, .edu, .org, and .net. Today, this is really only partly true.
As a general rule of thumb, .gov and .edu websites are usually trustworthy. The reason for this is because, put simply, not everyone can just go out and buy one of these domain names. They are heavily regulated and require proof that your organization is either a government entity or an accredited school. This factor alone makes .gov and .edu websites more likely to contain trustworthy and accurate information.
On the flip side, quite literally anyone can buy a .net or .org domain name. As far as website ownership is concerned, they are essentially “dotcoms.” In summary – while the old rule of thumb about website domains still has some truth to it, we wouldn’t recommend students use this as their only metric for critically evaluating information.
Fact check it
When you’re consuming content online – whether it’s a YouTube video or a blog article like this one – it’s not always apparent that the information being presented is accurate. By relying on a single reference, you may be exposing yourself to the biases (and possibly errors) of that source.
The best way to approach this? Fact check it! The best way to verify that information is accurate is to check if it’s been confirmed by multiple sources. We can tell you that students have trouble judging the credibility of online information, but it helps to have top-ranking university studies (like this one from Stanford) backing up our claims!
Language is a powerful tool – and can easily mislead us
It’s extremely important for students to understand that language is, in itself, an art form. There are countless ways of communicating the same piece of information, and words themselves can even be used to mislead our interpretation and elicit an emotional reaction – all while still being technically accurate. What exactly do we mean by this?
Let’s use an example. The following story reportedly originates from an April Fools Day prank organized by a local newspaper in the early 80s. Regardless of its beginnings, the story is often retold by teachers as a perfect example of how easy it is to be misled – especially when the information sounds scientifically convincing.
Have you heard of a chemical called dihydrogen monoxide? This compound is colorless and odorless, and accidental inhalation of dihydrogen monoxide can be deadly. To make matters worse, prolonged exposure to DHMO can cause skin damage. Ingestion of DHMO can cause extreme sweating and dangerous levels of electrolyte imbalance in the body.
Sounds super scary, right? Well, you have nothing to worry about – dihydrogen monoxide is just water. With two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, dihydrogen monoxide is simply an unconventional (and slightly more alarming) way of saying H20. Furthermore, everything stated above is technically true: water is clear and has no odor, and breathing it in your lungs certainly is dangerous. Spending too much time in the pool will cause your skin to prune, and drinking water can make you sweat out excess liquid. Drinking too much H20 can indeed throw off your body’s electrolyte balance – which is precisely why athletes drink Gatorade and alkaline water!
The newspaper even took it a step further and warned people that dihydrogen monoxide had already been found in the town’s public utility pipes – as water should be, of course. Fortunately, the newspaper revealed the gag at the end of the article before any panic could ensue – but the story has lived on and continues to fool even college students.
The moral of this dihydrogen monoxide parody? We should all try to keep in mind that language is an extremely powerful tool that can be used to sway our views and beliefs. Furthermore, a writer’s choice of words can mislead us into believing something is more truthful and/or relevant than it actually is.
Our best advice? Students should always check their facts, and be sure to verify information through multiple sources before accepting it as truth!
