10 Ways to Determine Internet Credibility

10 ways to determine information credibility on the Internet

The first way to identify credible information on the internet is by finding out under what authority was the information posted. A good deteminating factor is if the author is a well-known and well-regarded name you recognize. When the an author is not recognize we have to verify if, the author is mentioned in a positive fashion by another author or another person you trust as an authority, if the information found is linked to the author’s internet document from another document you trust; the Web/Internet document you are reading gives biographical information, including the author's position, institutional affiliation and address; biographical information is available by linking to another document; this enables you to judge whether the author’s credentials allow him/her to speak with authority on a given topic; if none of the above, there is an address and telephone number as well as an e-mail address for the author in order to request further information on his or her work and professional background. An e- mail address alone gives you no more information than you already have.

A second way to determine credibility, and one the least amount of people perform, is to check the author's credentials. Just because the credentials are posted, does not mean they are true. Credentials that simply establish a person's identity are very widely used. Documentation usually consists of an identity card (sometimes a credential that is also used for other purposes, such as an automobile driver's license), a badge (often machine-readable), etc., issued by a trusted third party after some form of identity verification. Many identification documents use photographs to help ensure their association with their legitimate holders. Some also incorporate biometric information, passwords, PINs, and so on to further reduce the opportunities for fraud. Identification credentials are among the most widely counterfeited...