trustdigg The Dry Erase / Whiteboard Girl hoax – the story of the girl who supposedly quit her job and explained it all in a series of 33 photos of text she wrote on a whiteboard – makes me think of trust, as in: how do you know what you read online, never mind in print, is true or not?

The answer is that you don’t. Not really, no matter the source and how much you’ve come to trust in that source – meaning, the person who wrote what you’re reading – as someone who has a record of telling the truth.

Jon Orlin writing in TechCrunch at the weekend has a very interesting and certainly timely assessment of trust in the context of the whiteboard girl hoax, arguing that in the past, journalists would protect the reader from the fake stories because of their vetting practices.

That’s all changed now, he says.

[…] With social media, there are no editors.  There is no waiting for confirmation.  When you tweet or re-tweet, you are not checking the facts or even so much concerned if you are spreading a lie. When the Dry Erase Girl meme hit the Web, 421,000 users shared the story on Facebook, and theChive got 2.5 million unique visits for two days in a row, the same amount it normally gets in a month.

[…] In the days before social media, I think news organizations might have held the story.  Now with the instant viral spread of information that happens even without the media, the story is out there whether we report it or not.   The man behind the hoax, theChive’s John Resig told TechCrunch "we didn’t need mainstream media to make this happen, we just needed the people… This  was spread through Twitter, Facebook and interoffice emails."

That is reality today. It reminded me that I have a paragraph in the terms of use for this website that I first wrote in 2006 which says:

1. All information you see in this site is provided “as is,” with no warranty or guarantee of accuracy. Treat all information here with the same caution as you would with any other professional weblog or website you visit, printed publication you read, or audio/video publications you listen to or watch.

It’s not a cop out as I also include a text saying that if I find an error or inaccuracy in anything I write about, I’ll promptly correct it.

The point for all of us is precisely that – treat everything you read online with some caution. As Orlin concludes in his TechCrunch post:

[…] If you don’t want to get fooled, be more skeptical of anything you read – whether it is in a newspaper, a blog, a tweet, or status update. Just because it’s on a web page doesn’t make it true.

[The cartoon above is by Geek & Poke, used here under their CC licence. It’s one of their early ones, from 2006. If done today, I suspect it would reference Twitter rather than Digg. In any case, who trusts Digg today?]

43 responses to “With social media, there are no editors”

  1. [Blog] With social media, there are no editors http://tinyurl.com/3xjws53 #fb #in

  2. [nh.com] With social media, there are no editors http://goo.gl/fb/K3jpc

  3. Thank you for your post @jangles http://tinyurl.com/3xjws53 I think each publication must earn its own trust #fb #in #journalism

  4. Thank you for your post @jangles http://tinyurl.com/3xjws53 I think each publication must earn its own trust #fb #in… http://goo.gl/fb/rdZHT

  5. @tobiasgrubbe thanks, glad you found the post worth reading, appreciate it http://bit.ly/axcSvJ

  6. With social media, there are no editors http://bit.ly/cE0SG2

  7. With social media, there are no editors http://is.gd/ejK5a #socialmedia #marketing #mkt #in

  8. RT @D_ogo With social media, there are no editors http://is.gd/ejK5a #socialmedia #marketing #mkt #in http://bit.ly/9i2nbU

  9. Seo_Profit (Diana) avatar

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    Thank you for your post @jangles [link to post] I think each publication must earn its own trust #fb #in… http://goo.gl/fb/rdZHT

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  10. Jo Quinney avatar

    Hi, Neville,
    I knew when I passed the ‘White Board Girl’ WBG on that it was probably made up.
    I also knew that Steve Slater was so bizarre it had to be true.
    It was interesting that both stories broke in the same week & it wasn’t long before WBG was out-ed.
    In print media Sub-editors are loosing there jobs & editors are feeling the strain.
    In new media we have to make sure that we are monitoring our own work.
    I rely on close colleagues and my Mum who is my proof reader (seriously underpaid) to keep me in check.
    I get someone else to read & check my blogs before I post.
    I like to make sure my ranting isn’t too incoherent.
    Regards, Jo Quinney (new blogger / coherent ranter)

  11. AllThingsM (AllThingsM) avatar

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    With social media, there are no editors [link to post]

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  12. Barb Gibson avatar

    Does anyone really believe that traditional journalists and editors only present the truth? I bring the same level of skepticism to the morning news on BBC1 as I do to the internet. I understand that behind almost every story, there’s someone who has a commercial or political or other agenda. It’s my own responsibility to watch, read or listen critically, and to come to my own conclusions. With regard to the whiteboard girl hoax, while it may have been wildly popular, I don’t believe that many people were actually fooled by it. It spread because of the entertainment value. Anyone who fell for it did so in the same way a 9-year-old holds onto the myth of Santa Clause; deep down, they knew better.

  13. jangles (Neville Hobson) avatar

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    [Blog] With social media, there are no editors [link to post] #fb #in

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  14. tobiasgrubbe (Tobias Grubbe) avatar

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    Thank you for your post @jangles [link to post] I think each publication must earn its own trust #fb #in #journalism

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    1. jangles (Neville Hobson) avatar

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      @tobiasgrubbe thanks, glad you found the post worth reading, appreciate it http://bit.ly/axcSvJ

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      1. tobiasgrubbe (Tobias Grubbe) avatar

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        @jangles I did. I must justify the payment made to me by my PATRONS every time I publish. My present patron is @journalisted

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  15. HCMSanMarcos (Higher Calling Media) avatar

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    RT @D_ogo With social media, there are no editors [link to post] #socialmedia #marketing #mkt #in http://bit.ly/9i2nbU

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  16. With social media, there are no editors | NevilleHobson.com http://bit.ly/af6EEx

  17. D_ogo (Diogo Ribeiro Amorim) avatar

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    With social media, there are no editors [link to post] #socialmedia #marketing #mkt #in

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  18. With social media, there are no editors (via my6sense) http://tinyurl.com/2wks5y2

  19. With social media, there are no editors via @my6sense @MaverickMastery http://tinyurl.com/2wks5y2

  20. RT @jeremy_dent: With social media, there are no editors via @my6sense @MaverickMastery http://tinyurl.com/2wks5y2

  21. jeremy_dent (Jeremy Dent) avatar

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    With social media, there are no editors via @my6sense @MaverickMastery [link to post]

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  22. MaverickMastery (Judith Germain) avatar

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    With social media, there are no editors (via my6sense) [link to post]

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  23. chrismenlove (Chris Menlove-Platt) avatar

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    RT @jeremy_dent: With social media, there are no editors via @my6sense @MaverickMastery [link to post]

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  24. With social media, there are no editors http://is.gd/ejK5a #socialmedia #marketing #mkt

  25. How do you discern trust online given the whiteboard hoax, asks @jangles http://bit.ly/cWayPh

  26. geoffliving (Geoff Livingston) avatar

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    How do you discern trust online given the whiteboard hoax, asks @jangles [link to post]

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  27. Thoughtful read; On the other hand: With social media, there are no editors #socialmedia #mediarelations http://bit.ly/bejoDv

  28. With social media, there are no editors.. http://bit.ly/aLrQPp

  29. RT @jeremy_dent: With social media, there are no editors via @my6sense @MaverickMastery http://tinyurl.com/2wks5y2

  30. NevilleHobson.com: With social media, there are no editors http://tinyurl.com/2wks5y2

  31. A good/bad thing? – With social media, there are no editors http://ow.ly/2raAT via @jangles

  32. With social media, there are no editors! http://bit.ly/bj3102

  33. IMHO Good thing – RT @Chris_Hall1: A good/bad thing? – With social media, there are no editors http://ow.ly/2raAT via @jangles

  34. RT @GabrielleNYC: IMHO Good thing – RT @Chris_Hall1: A good/bad thing? – With social media, there are no editors http://ow.ly/2raAT via @jangles

  35. HRCurtis (Hywel Curtis) avatar

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    With social media, there are no editors! [link to post]

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  36. With social media, there are no editors | NevilleHobson.com: http://bit.ly/aMtZWD via @addthis

  37. UFredericton (Univ. of Fredericton) avatar

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    With social media, there are no editors | NevilleHobson.com: [link to post] via @addthis

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  38. With social media there are no editors.!Hmm..does this put a damper on #business#communication? http://ow.ly/2rXVA

  39. With Social Media, there are no editors http://bit.ly/audpdo

  40. AlexOanaDumitru (Alexandra Dumitru ) avatar

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    With Social Media, there are no editors [link to post]

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  41. Digital Marketing avatar

    How about using common sense? Of course we can’t tell what’s true and not when nobody is accountable. The good old phrase, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” comes to mind. Too much nannying, not enough independent thinking…