Not as Web Savvy as we think: we may be giving Google too much credibility

Google it! And that's what we simply do for nearly everything.We trust Google so much that we just click on websites that turn up at the top of Google searches thinking to ourselves: "Okay, if Google placed it number one, of course it's credible!". According to Eszter Hargittai, associate professor of communication studies at Northwestern. "This is potentially tricky because Google doesn't rank a site by its credibility."

If you were asked to bring up the page that's usually on their screen when you start using the Web, wouldn't it be Google's?

A recent study published by the International Journal of Communication: "Trust Online. Young Adult's Evaluation of Web Content", 102 students at the University of Illinois at Chicago sat at computers with researchers.The activity on their screens was captured on video as researchers gave the students a variety of hypothetical information-seeking tasks to perform online. Time and again, researchers watched students navigate to brand-name search engines--usually Google--and to brand-name websites to find information. Researchers also asked students questions about websites they chose.

"Many students think, 'Google placed it number one, so, of course it's credible,'" said Eszter Hargittai, associate professor of communication studies at Northwestern. "This is potentially tricky because Google doesn't rank a site by its credibility." Search engine rankings seemed extremely important. A website's layout or content almost didn't even matter to the students. What mattered was that it was the number one result on Google!
Some of the students did give more credibility to websites ending in dot-gov, dot-edu or dot-org. However, Hargittai said most didn't know dot-org domain names could be registered by anyone, and thus are not inherently different from dot-com sites.Aside from Google, other online brands that students mentioned most often to complete tasks were: Yahoo!, SparkNotes, MapQuest, Microsoft, Wikipedia, AOL and Facebook.

"Just because younger people grew up with the Web doesn't mean they're universally savvy with it," Hargittai said.
"Educators should show specific websites in class and talk about why a source is or isn't credible." Here you are some hints which can help you evaluate websites.
  Think about your own reasons and benefits to get web-savvy!!!