In this weeks symposium one question that Adrian proposed was, “how can you judge the validity of things on the internet?” This began a long discussion on the different modes of practice that will indicate that something is valid. I thought that this question was very interesting and I was curious to see what everyone’s opinions were.

Betty stated that the validity depends on what platform the information is on and that it “won’t be valid until it has some investment journalism behind it.” Using Robin William’s passing as an example, she explained that until she had read the news on an online website such as The New York Times or The Guardian, she wouldn’t believe it. This made me think about the news/information that I read on social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, a lot of which I believe without thinking twice about it. 80% of the time it is all true (or the majority of it), yet there have been times where recount what I have read to someone else to be met with a dumbfounded expression because it’s completely false.

Checking how many people are agreeing with the information, how many people are reading it, if other websites have the same facts – will all ensure that you have the correct information before you tell the rest of the world about it!