Bathroom Bill Controversy

This essay explores how crucial it is in the information age ensure sources are credible and reliable. To evaluate online resources, Miriam J. Metzger outlines in her article, Making sense of credibility on the web: Models for evaluating online information and recommendations for future research (2007) five criteria key in determining the credibility of resources. These are accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency and coverage. Metzger’s criteria will be further discussed in this essay in relation to news circulating the world wide web on major social networking platforms. This essay contends how it is the responsibility of the consumer to ensure the credibility and reliability of sources, by understanding how external factors such as algorithms

Verifiability among fake news circulating large media platforms, such as Facebook, can be discerned through coverage of content, confirmation through other sources and critical thinking. For example, supporting videos and photos when checked for validity, as they can be taken out of context, intentionally or unintentionally, to support a false story. take for example a video posted in april 2016, that purported the police removing a young woman from a bathroom due to “not looking feminine enough” (Willingham, 2016). This video linked itself to the Bathroom Bill controversy which was at its height at that time. however there was no date of evidence of location to be found and therefore the validity of this cannot be

However empirical research (Metzger, 2003) finds that the factors such as the needs, ability and motivation mediate the integrity of information evaluation. these studies show that consumers, in general, do not spend much of their “mental efforts on evaluating” online content. in fact, In the context of learning, Metzger Flanagin, and Zwarun (2003) study finds that college students rarely verify the general and academic information found on the web. The students largely determined credibility of sources by the reputation of the source and the site’s presentation. furthermore, depending on the motivation and context of the search, only the “surface features” were considered in evaluation (Metzger, 2003).

These studies indicate that despite the fake news, alternative facts and post truths, as information seekers we are either not willing or not knowing how to gauge online information credibility.

This highlights the need to emphasise critical thinking web-based learning during media and science