98 per cent of Americans distrust the web

In a world of user generated content like Wikipedia and Twitter feeds, is it really surprising that almost all US internet users distrust the information they find on the web?

Professional Q&A site Mancx recently commissioned a survey that asked web surfers if they trust the information they find on the web. Like, you probably expected almost all of them assumed the Internet is full of lies.

The surveys results, which were released via press release, show that web users feel that an excess of ads, outdated information, self-promotional information, and unfamiliar forums lead to bad information.

Those surved said they were fearful about the consequences that could arrive from false info on the web. Among the feared consequences were computer viruses, financial losses, fraud, and damages to ones credibility.

The survey was conducted on 1,900 US web users by Harris Interactive in June. Along with the overwhelming distrust of the web, the survey further found that 93 per cent of users want the web to be more trustworthy. I'll go out on a limb and assume that 93 per cent of web users also hate to use common sense.

The whole survey essentially points to the glaring fact that all information on the internet requires a bit of scepticism. The web is vast and open to everyone, which means it's packed with lies. People lie so of course liars are going to post on the web.

Generally speaking, we could all use a little scepticism in our lives. Scepticism leads to doubt, doubt leads to questions, and questions are good. Whether you get your information from the internet or the newspaper, you should always question its integrity.

17 Jul 2012