I decided to focus on a search engine other than Google because I am so accustomed 
to using it. By focusing on Yahoo, I hoped the differences would become more apparent.
However, I found myself falling into the ‘Google trap’ by using its search engine to search for a search engine! This shows how much of a monopoly Google has in my daily internet use.
to using it. By focusing on Yahoo, I hoped the differences would become more apparent.However, I found myself falling into the ‘Google trap’ by using its search engine to search for a search engine! This shows how much of a monopoly Google has in my daily internet use.
The familiar red ‘Yahoo’ logo reinforced to me that I was on the right search engine. My eye is drawn to the news bulletin’s headline and picture in the center of the page. Once clicking on the story, I find the Associated Press logo at the top of the article. This confirms that the source of news is reliable.
There are many icons down the side of the page for the user to visit. When clicking on ‘Yahoo maps’, I was given the option to view ‘The Holiday Inn’ locations and the network area of ‘Sprint ahead’. These companies were also, not so surprisingly, running a medium sized advertisement down the side of the page.
This shows that there is vested interest at bay here. Whilst looking on the map for an area to visit, you may see the advert and decide to look for Holiday Inn hotels within that particular area. Although you may be receiving additional, possibly unwanted information, the reliability of the map can not be undermined.
Using ‘Yahoo’, I typed the word ‘smoking’ into the search engine and from there, found one website and one blog to analyze. The first website that caught my eye was americanheart.org. The .org suggested to me that this website would be credible.
Once clicking onto the site, I saw a professional looking logo. This was another factor that suggested credibility. It also had a copyright label at the bottom of the page suggesting this web site has been properly registered.
This organization has an annual report which can be viewed online. One of the reports had been jointly researched by the Alzheimer’s Association and the American Heart Association. This joint relationship with another registered organization gives validity to the report.
The American Heart association also has TV/radio commercials and print ads. By branding their name in various media outlets, the credibility of the website increases. Your viewing of the TV ad may entice you to click on the Web site for further information. The association also holds scientific conference, another indicator that the information on the site is likely to have been well researched.
To find a blog, I focused on the same topic and came across cigarrestblog.com. I analyzed this blog to allow a contrast to the above Web site.
It is apparent by the layout that this is not an organization sponsored blog page. It has no logo and has no copyright label at the bottom of the page. Instead, it says ‘stop smoking today with CigArrest!’ The blog comments do refer to statistics and surveys however the author of the blog is named as ‘admin’.
Being unable to determine the author of the blog poses several problems as we are not able to determine whether they have a bias. For all I know, ‘admin’ could be a member of an anti-smoking campaign or an employee of the top cigarette brand in the US.
The issue of anonymity is a topic that has recently surfaced after The New York Times used anonymous sources in an article about McCain. The anonymous source told the Times that McCain’s top advisors had to intervene "to protect the candidate from himself" from getting romantically involved with a female lobbyist Vicki Iseman.
If this statement is true, it could do a lot of damage considering McCains past record. However, the use of any anonymous source undermines the reliability of the source and the Times have been heavily criticized for their use of it in such a highly publicized story.
There are many icons down the side of the page for the user to visit. When clicking on ‘Yahoo maps’, I was given the option to view ‘The Holiday Inn’ locations and the network area of ‘Sprint ahead’. These companies were also, not so surprisingly, running a medium sized advertisement down the side of the page.
This shows that there is vested interest at bay here. Whilst looking on the map for an area to visit, you may see the advert and decide to look for Holiday Inn hotels within that particular area. Although you may be receiving additional, possibly unwanted information, the reliability of the map can not be undermined.
Using ‘Yahoo’, I typed the word ‘smoking’ into the search engine and from there, found one website and one blog to analyze. The first website that caught my eye was americanheart.org. The .org suggested to me that this website would be credible.
Once clicking onto the site, I saw a professional looking logo. This was another factor that suggested credibility. It also had a copyright label at the bottom of the page suggesting this web site has been properly registered.
This organization has an annual report which can be viewed online. One of the reports had been jointly researched by the Alzheimer’s Association and the American Heart Association. This joint relationship with another registered organization gives validity to the report.
The American Heart association also has TV/radio commercials and print ads. By branding their name in various media outlets, the credibility of the website increases. Your viewing of the TV ad may entice you to click on the Web site for further information. The association also holds scientific conference, another indicator that the information on the site is likely to have been well researched.
To find a blog, I focused on the same topic and came across cigarrestblog.com. I analyzed this blog to allow a contrast to the above Web site.
It is apparent by the layout that this is not an organization sponsored blog page. It has no logo and has no copyright label at the bottom of the page. Instead, it says ‘stop smoking today with CigArrest!’ The blog comments do refer to statistics and surveys however the author of the blog is named as ‘admin’.
Being unable to determine the author of the blog poses several problems as we are not able to determine whether they have a bias. For all I know, ‘admin’ could be a member of an anti-smoking campaign or an employee of the top cigarette brand in the US.
The issue of anonymity is a topic that has recently surfaced after The New York Times used anonymous sources in an article about McCain. The anonymous source told the Times that McCain’s top advisors had to intervene "to protect the candidate from himself" from getting romantically involved with a female lobbyist Vicki Iseman.
If this statement is true, it could do a lot of damage considering McCains past record. However, the use of any anonymous source undermines the reliability of the source and the Times have been heavily criticized for their use of it in such a highly publicized story.
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