Expertise on the Web and otherwise...

How do you judge the value of expertise on the Web?  Does it differ from your notion of expertise in face-to-face settings?  Why or why not?

Sometimes it’s easier to judge expertise when researching on the Web.  For example, about a year ago two people in their early 20’s came to my door and asked me to “invest” in them by purchasing very expensive magazine subscriptions.  I’m not sure who would buy subscriptions that are ten times the cost of purchasing the magazine at the grocery store, but these young people had takers or they wouldn’t continue to walk door to door to sell subscriptions.  This young man and young woman were charismatic and a little bit anxious so I listened to their stories.  I made excuses to run back into the house to research their program on the Web.  I discovered that they worked for an organization that exploits desperate people by promising them a big income with some strings attached.  The strings are taking them out of their hometowns, “paying” their hotel and food expenses, and then putting them on the street to “sell” these subscriptions.  If they don’t get the orders then they must pay back the cost of living expenses.  It’s not a good life.  I promised them that I wasn’t going to buy any subscriptions and offered to make them lunch instead.  They took me up on my offer and left an hour or so later.

Last week at the Common Core workshop, the presenter was making erroneous statements about the standards.  Since I had my laptop and Duval County has a BYOD program, I was able to look up the research to show the presenter that she was wrong.  I wasn’t rude and typically don’t try to prove someone wrong (except my husband), but she insisted that it wasn’t possible for her to be wrong because she had had dinner with the man who wrote the original Common Core Standards and had heard him say…blah, blah, blah.  I despise name dropping so I was forced to prove her wrong, and it wasn’t difficult since the Common Core Standards are readily available on the Web and an IPhone app.  So much for paid expertise.

I rely on my intuition to make final judgments about most things.  Certainly, before I ever researched the Web, I knew the kids at my door were not offering me a good deal, but being able to do quick research helped.  But intuition doesn’t cut it when you only have the Web.  To judge the quality of a website and its information, I check the web address and look for information about the staff or whoever is posting the information.  Sometimes I cross reference information on the site by a copy and paste of pieces of the narrative in the Google bar.   Loaded language is sometimes a clue that the author has an agenda different from the stated purpose of the website.  Snopes is also a reliable place to check out stories and “speeches” that seem too good to be true.