how to be a critical internet user

How to be a critical internet user

Laramie/Lederle Collaboration EffortMarch 28, 2006

To be critical users of the internet, don’t get DUPED by following these

five tips.

• Date• URL• Pop up ads• E-mail• Design

Was there a clue in the URL that it was an unreliable resource?

http://www.dhmo.org/

No, not really. The URL looks legitimate.

legitimate URL extensions:

.net

.org

.com

.gov


When was this page last updated?


The date is recent so we know someone checks on this site regularly.

Wait a minute! Notice the note under dateNote: content veracity not impliedWhat does veracity mean?


Veracity = truthfulness truthfulness of content cannot be implied


Can you contact the creator of this site easily?


You can send feedback but read the fine print.


Under DHMO related Info: When you click on the links, is the information found, actually about DHMO?


National Consumer Coalition Against DHMO comments on DHMO but check out the URL. It is

still in their site

http://www.dhmo.org/NCCA.html

These link to legitimate sites but do not contain information about

DHMO.

Try searching for DHMO on one of these sites.


Check out Press Kit. What clues do you find that it is a hoax?


Did you put in username and password? What did you find?


Articles stating DHMO is water.

http://www.dhmo.org/presskit/

What clue does the URL provide that this is a personal page? (Hint: what in the URL is

unusual looking?)

http://www.armory.com/~crisper/DHMO/

It’s called a tilde ~ and indicates a personal webpage


Can you find any contact information?


Does this look reliable?

This site definitely has a bias. The information would not be reliable.

http://www.armory.com/~crisper/Scorch/index.html

Can you get to the home page?


Try truncating the URL.

Highlight text back to M in .COM then delete. Click Go to go to home page

Does this have anything to do with DHMO? This isanother clue that this is not a reliable source

Finally, Is Wikipedia a reliable source?

http://www.wikipedia.org/

This is a resource that can be modified by anyone. If you use this site make sure you verify the information with another source.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DHMO

Remember to be critical users of the internet. Don’t get DUPED by

following these five tips.

• Date• URL• Pop up ads• E-mail• Design

how to be a critical internet user

Documents