safitch@uwm.edu wrote:
I'm a graduate student doing a research paper on verifying online information: How do you know its creditable? Does anyone have any suggestions for places or sources to get information on this topic? give me your feedback.
This seems to be an increasingly important question to ask. I presented a paper on online credibility at a National Communication Association conference a few years back which I would be happy to send. A number of people responded afterwards who appeared to be working on similar projects. Currently I am continuing the project by framing the question in rhetorical terms: How is ethos conveyed on the Web? Examining the problems has led me to consider the relationship between credibility and the Web in three different ways: 1) rhetoric ABOUT the Web that contributes to its ethos as a medium, such as cyberconspiracy themes and Wild West metaphors 2) rhetoric mediated THROUGH the Web, where the medium seems to constrain or enhance the credibility of a message, such as the ability to describe in detail the trustworthiness of your organization with optional links or the difficulty of verifying the sheer volume of information made possible through online publication 3) rhetoric OF the Web, which suggests that ethos can be embodied in Web site design itself, in the same way that usability engineers suggest good design can embody the function and navigability of a site. This view of Web rhetoric also includes the notion that communication emanates from the Web in Weiner's cybernetic sense, or the sense of perceived agency described by Nass and Reeves in __Media Equation__. I would be happy to describe the project to you in more detail. Mike T. Hubler The University of Alabama in Huntsville