Taking Action

This section is dedicated to encouraging you to take action with regards to overcoming the issues discussed elsewhere on our site, namely the domination and control of your sources of information by a few parties, and the bias that they impart along with the dissemination of this information. To do this we encourage finding varied and balanced information sources and by actually participating in the discussion as well, in this case, through the use of the World Wide Web.

The first part of this piece is about finding quality information sources online, the second part is all about participating in the discussion (or participating in the fun world of social media) using the neutral and free medium of the internet.

1. Seeing: The Truth is Out There … Grab it!

How to Find Information Online

The internet being such a vast resource means that searching for information, news, or people can be an extremely daunting task. What follows is a little primer on how to navigate more competently the infinitude of data flows, and networks which make up the World Wide Web.

You’ve made it onto this site, through surfing or through having heard of us through our promotions, either way, we’ll assume that by having made it this far, you’re at the very worst, a functional user of the internet. You may not be quite so well informed of how powerful a tool the internet is or about the plethora of cool things you can find on the web however; whether you’re looking for health advice, computer help, news, or Vietnamese covers of Western pop music classics, chances are that you can find it on the web. We’ll show you how to find what you’re looking for, and also a basic way to evaluate the quality of your search findings.

(If you truly are a novice web surfer we suggest you follow this link to a great basic tutorial from The Open University to get you up to snuff on search engines in a hurry.)

For more advanced searches it is imperative that you have a good plan on approaching your search. Here is a basic overview for searching for information on any subject.

• · Usually, if you are unfamiliar with your topic, you will start with a broad search within a search engine or even in Wikipedia (link)(an online encyclopaedia which is invaluable for learning basic concepts) . Does your subject have unique words in it? If so, be sure to input those words into the search engine. If not, input three or four key words that describe your subject into the search engine.

• · After this you will want to scan the search results for sources that might be relevant to you. You may have to modify your initial search, but you almost always have to do a second stage of research within your broad search in order to learn more about your desired subject. What you learn in this stage allows you to identify nomenclature, people, websites that may be very specific to your subject. These make your next step much easier.

• · To get down to the good stuff like the hard facts, quotes, files, images, statistics that you were originally after, you will need to follow those specific identifiers to narrow your search to more specified sites and databases. If you have successfully narrowed down your search, from here you will have little trouble finding experts in the field and other great sources.

Other pointers: If searching for images or maps, there are special search engines for these (try searching “image search engines” and see what you come up with. If searching for music or video content, don’t despair if you cannot find it through simply inputting the files name into your search engine. Often to find this content you will have to discover a specialised forum or online community to hook you up, so follow the above points to track one down. Also, always be patient, fortune favours the steadfast.

The web is a great tool, however the existence over 106 million blogs and no editorial control means that not all information will be balanced, truthful, objective. So throughout your search you should be assessing the quality of your search results; all you need to do to accomplish this is to apply a simple rubric. Ask yourselves, who wrote this information? Why did they write it? And when did they write it?

The Open University, again, provides a great guide for examining the relevance, reliability and credibility of your search results.

Presentation: Is the information clearly communicated? Look at language, writing style, structure and layout

Relevance: Does the information match your needs? Look at the introduction or overview – what is it mainly about?

Objectivity: Is the author’s position of interest made clear? Do the writers state their position on the issue? Is the language emotive? Are there hidden, vested interests?

Method: Is it clear how the data was collected? Were the methods appropriate? How much data? Is it representative? Are there sources of bias?

Provenance: Is it clear where the information has come from? Can you identify authors or organisations? Are they well known? How was it published?

Timeliness: Is it clear when the information was produced? Does the date of the information meet requirements? Is the information obsolete?

Doing: Participating in the Interactive Web Experience

What really is most striking about the internet is all that it enables us to do. Through the web we are able to start a businesses, cultivate relationships, figure out our finances, bill people, manage projects, collaborate, find friends, tell people about… well, anything, find jobs, learn about new things, to report and communicate, to buy things, to sell things , to list things, to hear things and to watch things. Today’s web is all about interactivity; this stage of the internet with this prevalent theme is called Web 2.0.

Almost all web interactivity falls under the umbrella term, “social media”; this term describes activities such as blogging, wiki-ing, podcasting, participating in forums, picture sharing, instant messaging and many others. Social media is essentially anything that involves technology, social interactions, words and pictures, sharing and collaboration (Surowiecki, 2005). When people refer to social media nowadays, it is almost exclusively referring to activities taking place online. One of the principle themes is the freedom of the user to generate content.

Social networking, a sub-section of social media, is an amazingly popular activity, and allows networks of people to share pictures, conversation, thoughts, contact information. Some of the most popular networks are shown below.

The uniqueness of social media lies in its collaborative, sharing, and user-generated content aspects. These lead to intimate interactions between users where those belonging to the same forums, podcast and blog subscription groups forge extremely strong bonds though they have likely never met. The jury is still out on the actual power of social media as illustrated by this quote from influential thinker, blogger and podcaster Mitch Joel of Twist Image…

…we talk about how social media is so powerful, but to break the fishbowl, it’s clear that we need to leverage traditional media to get the word out to the masses who are not ‘listening.’ In doing so, aren’t we then disproving our theories – that people who want this information will find it on their own? I know… I know… this is what makes it ‘interesting times’ (2008).

There is however, an undeniable world of discovery, reflection and relationships for those that do participate in Web 2.0. If you are brave and interested follow this link to blogger extraordinaire, Chris Brogen’s excellent Social Media Starters Moves.