Search Engines Overtake Traditional Media as Most Trusted Source of News, but Be Careful of What You Trust

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A recent survey from the 2015 Edelman Trust Barometer, and published in an article from Search Engine Land, states that search engines have now overtaken traditional media as the globally most trusted source of news. Way to go Google!

This trust factor is most evident among Millennials with online search engines showing a 72% trust factor and traditional media with 64% trust. In his post, Greg Sterling hypothesizes that this jump in trust can be attributed to “the convenience and perceived comprehensiveness of news-search results – also the perceived objectivity.” Now, call me skeptical, but he used the term “perceived” twice in this one sentence. Yes, online search engines are convenient, but should we trust the comprehensiveness and objectivity of what we find/read online?

Everyone has their own thoughts on this, but I assert that one must be careful in trusting what they find online. There is an extremely wide range of material on the Internet, and this content varies in its accuracy, reliability and value. Unlike traditional media sources (books, magazines, etc.), nobody has to approve content online before it is published. So, it becomes your responsibility as the one searching to evaluate the credibility, objectivity, quality, accuracy, and reliability of the news you are searching for. Is the Millennial generation missing something here?

I argue that one needs to adopt a skeptical attitude toward all content available online. Even if this is not in your nature, it will certainly help you in the long run. There is a lot of high quality news information online, but there is also a rather large amount of misinformation, disinformation, exaggerations, half-truths, distortions and just plain old lies. Now, I am not saying to become cynical and automatically disbelieve everything that you read online, but I am saying that you don’t have to (nor should you) believe everything your read, hear, or see. Just be cautious and seek confirmation from other sources to credit what you are digesting. Remember, just because a website looks slick and professional does not necessarily mean that it is a credible and reliable site. So, how do you go about finding a trustworthy source of news from search engines?

The Process

Before you start typing into the Google search box, ask yourself what specifically you are looking for. Do you want opinions, facts, statistics, arguments, eyewitness reports, etc.? Once you’ve figure this out, this will help you immensely in figuring out which sources can be credible and those that are not. Ask yourself, “What source would be the most credible for providing me information in this particular case?” Figure out which sources are likely to be impartial, objective, and showing quality control. Keep this in mind so you don’t end up just taking the opinion of the first source that pops up. Remember, though, that you need to be fair and objective as well. It’s easy to look for those sources that mirror your own personal ideas or arguments … be open to opposing ideas that conflict with your own direction.

While this process of finding reliable and credible sources will require some experience, try and select sources that offer information such as the author’s name, title or position, organizational affiliation, and contact information. Overall, however, it all boils down to developing critical thinking skills to be able to discern facts from opinions to determine the trustworthiness of sources. In the meantime, here’s a list of what to look for when establishing the trustworthiness of sources:

  • Everybody has their own opinion
  • Straightforwardness = the most reliable sources
  • Internet news articles should always provide a list of sources = trustworthy
  • Just about anyone can publish anything on the Internet
  • Internet publishers can (and do) use fake identities to get you to trust them
  • If author and/or publisher is easily identifiable (and not driven by profit), this sources is more trustworthy
  • News organizations are businesses just like any other
  • Look for websites that belong to well-known and reputable groups and publishers (do they provide references for research that can be independently verified?)

Personally, I use search engines to find and consume all of my news. But, just as I have stated above, I have had to learn how to be a critical thinker and be very skeptical of what I read online. I have no doubt that Millennials are now trusting search engines more than traditional media for their source of news, but what about the rest of us? Gen-Xers like me did not necessarily grow up with the Internet and had to learn how to be skeptical about all of this dis-and mis-information that is out there. Just make sure to pay heed to the above information and in due time you will be consuming trustworthy news online with the best of ‘em!

Barry Rubenstein, Digital Marketing Strategist
By
Barry Rubenstein
Imagine That: Dream Bigger!
Digital Marketing Strategist
Breckenridge, Colorado

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