For the past three months my weekend routine has been to finish work in Gardner at 2:00PM and meander my way to Brattleboro. My final stop is the home store in Greenfield so I can pick up materials for last minute projects before ending up at my new store.
This weekend was a bit different. My brother called me in a panic and asked if I could pick up a box of stainless steel screws so he could finish his window installation. While we were talking, he told me he learned how to install a window online and read several forums that suggested using stainless steel screws instead of nails.
Partly for my daughter’s sake and partly because I felt like slacking, we stayed at his house and helped him complete his window project. With his laptop teetering on a pile of scrap building materials, he pulled up several bookmarks showing similar but different ways of installing the window. Each was different enough to make us start questioning.
Under my breath I was criticizing him for using the internet as his sole resource. After all, neither one of us worked on a construction crew so our experiences were limited. Seeking the help of experts who are willing to post their knowledge online seems like a logical choice. But who are these experts and can we trust their proficiency?
I couldn’t criticize my little brother too much because I find myself relying on the internet for assistance with all sorts of stuff. Going down my list of favorites demonstrates just how much I rely. Over the years I’ve saved psychology websites, car forums, woodworking sites, and of course computer troubleshooting pages.
A little informal research among friends and relatives suggests that it’s easier to search the net than it is to thumb through a book. Chances are someone, somewhere has had a similar experience. If we’re lucky our search will find that person and their experience will be our solution.
Websites like Wikipedia, Yahoo Answers, and Psychology Today are some of the gazillions of forums and websites that will pop up in search results. Each site suggests it’s an expert on the specific subject of the site. How do we know and trust the content to be correct and accurate?
Wikipedia is an online reference built and maintained by the community at large. You, me, and my cousin Ted can all post to Wikipedia and none of our information may be correct. Though informative, Wikipedia doesn’t strictly enforce the sources of the information so it could be garbage.
Yahoo Answers is based on the premise of someone asking a question and others answering. Admittedly, I’ve asked many questions to the community and have received some interesting answers. Had I taken the advice of one of the responders I could have potentially ended up in jail.
Psychology Today is a self help website that pulls from articles written by authorities which may have been written for other sites. Before ending a short relationship earlier this year I read an article on the website that suggested a good method for dealing with psychotics. After reading and processing the information I searched out the author’s credentials and discovered she hadn’t actually practiced in the field of psychology.
We’ve become lazy due in part to the ease of thumbing through the myriad of information available to us online. Much of the information provided online is simply quackery that anyone can spew out to make themselves sound like an authority. Luckily for my brother the information he obtained worked and his window opens and doesn’t leak.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can call him at (978) 919-8059 or visit www.LocalComputerWiz.com.)