Web hoaxes and other spurious information on the internet.

In an online article Paul S. Piper discusses web hoaxes and fraudulent information posted throughout the internet. The article discribes how some internet sites post invalid information and can be misleading when attempting objective researche. There are many reasons why information can be skewed or blatanly misleading on internet sites but for the most part it is due to parody and entertainment, scams and money making schemes as well as disinformation and propoganda.


Every one knows of wikipedia, but what you might not know is that anyone can post information on this online encyclopedia. This can be good because it allows all people to pool knowledge on subjects in one particular place but it also creates the opportunity for those to post misleading or false information for personal gains.
Another example is martinlutherking.org, in which a white supremecist organization has used this domain name to give information about the civil rights activist that is atypical. They have used this site to present information about MLK as if it were a reputable even though the substance is particularly biased. the websites name is decieving in that one would think it is a credible source for info, this is an example of disinformation being used to alter public opinion.
The author is trying to emphasize the amount of false and out of context information floating around the internet currently. He also makes the point that a piece of information is only as cgood as its source. Checking sources as well as comparing information from multiple sources is the best way to determine the credibility of a statement or article.