The web made genius

I’ve noticed allot of articles of recent, over the proverbial “blogosphere” dealing with the topic of the internet, blogging, social networking and writing on the web; in essence blogging about blogging.

Even I have gone to my newspaper column, blogs and the Hub to discuss some of the aspects of near disgust about the over use of blogging and social networking.

One of the most amazing things I have noticed is the overall bad and often completely wrong information published, posted or whatever it is being called these days. There seems to be a new label for the process of uploading an article all of the time.

I remember when it all began and no journalist worth his or her salt would have called anything that didn’t get printed on paper publishing. After having manually typed your article, you then POSTED your article to the PROOF READER’s literal bulletin board who read it, proofed it and then sent the approved copy to the editor and if and when it got approved it was then sent “to bed” to be PUBLISHED via the printing presses.

When articles began going on the web for public review, it was always called “uploading”. Then BBS (the old MSDOS Bulletin Board Services) started loosely utilizing the term “posting” just like posting a note on a bulletin board.

As My Space and Face Book emerged the term took off like crazy and then eBooks came along and the term PUBLISHING on the web became the commonly accepted term and now Bloggers, Hub Pages and others are using the term PUBLISHING for placing articles on line.

I now hear however, the new preferred term being tallied about is “integrated or integration” e.g. your article is being “integrated” into the web or site. The idea is to totally differentiate from the physical idea of posting or publishing and presenting the whole integration of article, photos, videos and ads into one site.

The Hub and a few other sites are perfect examples of this new idea of posting and publishing. If rumors hold true, I am certain it won’t be long before we are all talking about the “integration of our writing “into the Hub. In fact I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see HubPages eventually becoming simply “The Hub”. I might add that my newspaper is already utilizing the term with regard to the on line version.

The great paradox however, about writing on the web is that very often a writer will write about a subject they know little if anything about but because of “search engines” they can appear a genius; you might say a web made genius.

I am completely astounded how here on the Hub and many other sites in the area of Christianity and religion, the multitude of writers who espouse their so called knowledge on every topic imaginable.

Most of these writers are actually quite good…..at writing; although their knowledge is often flawed and skewed with error and incomplete information.

In most cases, I am certain that in order to generate discussion and controversy, these writers deliberately hit on the vulnerability of those seeking “quick fixes” to very complicated questions.

The same is true in the area of advice, counseling, self improvement and psychology.

I wonder if these writers understand they are affecting real life human beings.

Do they even care or is it simply a matter of filling up space with words and pretty pictures which will entice the “sunburn sensitive areas” of a person’s life satisfying a momentary need and drawing people to their site?

In my opinion, this is unconscionable. As writers we have a responsibility to be accurate and precise.

Unless it is meant for entertainment, a work of poetry, humor or short story, matters of religion and counseling should be accurate.

I realize that everyone is entitled to their opinion, we have the right of free speech and as such as long as the blog site doesn’t have a restriction to the content, anyone can say anything about anything; right or wrong.

Again, the web has become home to the “Web made genius” filling the web with all sorts of incorrect, false and wrong information.

The joke of course is, “If it is on the internet, it has to be right”. But actually, with such sites as “Wikipedia”, Angie’s List and others we know it’s just not true. Wikipedia which is quoted all the time even on the Hub is only about forty percent correct and lets the readers actually make corrections; right or wrong. Angie’s List gathers information about businesses which many might be entirely legitimate and reputable but because of some incorrect information or a few unhappy clients, the business often comes to near ruin.

There is even a video by a "Blog Writer" who teaches others that it doesn't matter if you know anything about the topic you are writing or not. She goes on to show people how to "steal other people's blogs" and make them their own. Cute isn't it? I hope you aren't one of those writers. You can access this horrible information at Write Articles Fast.

Even with the detail of Google to search and eliminate unwanted information based on the user, Google too is often guilty of political tilt resulting in unsubstantiated claims of inaccuracy getting through.

So today, it appears everyone can be a genius; at least a “web made genius”.

©Copyright 2012 Dr. Lee W. Outlaw III

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