When it comes to the internet, you know that there’s a lot of misleading, inaccurate or downright false information out there. By now, most of you have heard the advice, “Don’t trust everything you read.” But how can you tell what to trust and what not to?
Here are some questions that you should get into the habit of asking whilst you’re reading anything (not just online): whether it’s a blog post, newspaper article, sales letter or brochure.
- What’s the Author’s Purpose?
The most important question to ask, and one you should have in mind when you start to read, is “What’s the author’s purpose?” All writing has a purpose. It might be to:- Entertain you – make you laugh
- Give you information
- Sell you something
- Encourage you to come back to a blog or magazine in future
- Build up the author’s reputation in his/her field
Some purposes are inherently more trustworthy than others. For example, if the author is trying to give you information, or build her reputation, then the facts in the article are likely to be ones that the author at least believes are true. But if the author is trying to sell something, then read with caution. - Entertain you – make you laugh
- Who Is the Author?
Even if the author’s purpose seems laudable, you’ll want to ask yourself who the author actually is. Have you ever heard of him? If so, is he an authority in his industry or field – or is he a suspected charlatan?
For example, imagine an article entitled “How to Become a Lifecoach”. You should trust this if it was written by Tim Brownson, a qualified and practising lifecoach, who has an entertaining and informative blog. But if I had written the article, you definitely should take what I’ve written with a grain of salt. I’m a writer, not a coach, and I’ve never so much as read the “Dummy’s Guide to Lifecoaching”.
Of course, as a professional writer, I sometimes do write on topics I don’t know much about. When I do this, I need to undertake a lot of research. So if you’re reading an article by an unknown writer, it’s especially important to ask the next couple of questions. - Are Sources Cited?
Does the author give you facts – especially statistics – without any evidence to back them up? In an entertaining piece, this might be fine (it doesn’t matter too much whether the numbers are right, so long as the article is funny). But if you’re reading an informative piece about the economy, and the author says, “Ten million people will be out of work by Christmas” – does she link to a particular source that backs this up?
And just because you’ve heard a fact before doesn’t mean you should take it at face value. Have you ever read about the Harvard Goal Setting study? It’s an oft-cited example of why you should set written goals, which is usually referenced as first appearing in the book What They Don’t Teach You in the Harvard Business School, by Mark McCormack. This is how it goes (taken from Harvard Business School Story):In that year [1979], the students were asked, "Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?" Only three percent of the graduates had written goals and plans; 13 percent had goals, but they were not in writing; and a whopping 84 percent had no specific goals at all.
But a couple of weeks ago, I read Fact or Fiction? The Truth About The Harvard Written Goal Study on SidSavara.com. It was an eye-opener. Sid looked for the original study online, and found no evidence that the study ever existed, despite it being cited in numerous books and all over the web. There’s a very similar story about a Yale study in 1953 – which again, can’t be backed up.
Ten years later, the members of the class were interviewed again, and the findings, while somewhat predictable, were nonetheless astonishing. The 13 percent of the class who had goals were earning, on average, twice as much as the 84 percent who had no goals at all. And what about the three percent who had clear, written goals? They were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97 percent put together.
So just because a book is cited, don’t assume that the information in the book is necessarily accurate. - Are Examples Included?
Does the author write very abstract, high-level information, without any concrete details? The article might still be true but it’s not likely to be very useful to you. The most trustworthy articles won’t just include general principles or woolly statements, but will give examples too. And the best examples include specific figures or facts, or quotes from people who aren’t the author and who don’t have a vested interest.
What do you trust more, “You could make loads as an online copywriter” or an article including several stories from different copywriters who are making over $50,000 a year? - Does the Article Contradict Your Prior Knowledge?
Finally, ask yourself whether the facts in an article go against what you already know. If you read a sales letter for a new diet pill that claims you can “lose 20 lbs in a month”, you’ve got good reasons to be sceptical. Most people on a diet lose 1-2 lbs per week, and most diet pills are known to be notoriously ineffective and even dangerous (one, Acomplia, has recently been banned in the UK and was never approved for use in the US, due to its association with psychiatric problems).
Any statements which seem “too good to be true” also fall into this category. You may not have prior knowledge of the exact area that the article is about, but you do know that most people don’t “make $$$ working from home” (or they’d all be doing it!)
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