Our reading about web hoaxes, counterfeit sites, and other phony information out there on the internet greatly informed me of the lack of veracity in some web sites. I feel more confident now in my abilities to separate false internet information and authentic useful research information also found on the internet. I had no idea that crude web sites such as the one promoting white power and the demise of Martin Luther King Jr. even existed. Although we do live in the great land of free speech, it is sad that a kid in middle school could stumble across that site whilst actually trying to find truthful information on MLK for a school project. I feel that it is becoming an increasing problem for parents to be able to diligently monitor the information that their children are receiving over the net; for the sake of kids that are not yet old enough to decipher misinformation. I think it is great that some websites have dedicated themselves to keeping record of these hoax sites, but is that enough to keep the general public informed about misinformation? Although, the author of the article does have a point when stating that having some hoax sites can be useful and even prove to be a learning method. I only agree with this in that people can learn what they think is right from reading what other people have said, regardless of the veracity or ludicrousness’ about the subject, and doing so can help shape someone’s own informed opinion about that topic. Not to mention that some hoax sites are incredibly hilarious and are only put out in the publics eye for a good laugh. All in all, this article helped me understand that there is a lot of non-sense on the internet; and as a student, learning how to sift through web-sites to find out if the information portrayed is truthful is just as important as not committing plagiarism on a school paper.
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