Credibility Reference Guide

Fogg, B. J. (2003). Credibility and the World Wide Web In Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What we Think and Do (pp. 122-125). Amsterdam: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.

 

Epping, L. L., & Wilder, W. M. (2011). Factors impacting the credibility of website disclosures. Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, 9(1), 27-46. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/19852511111139787

J., F. B. The Four Types of Web Credibilty Retrieved 2nd November 2014, 2014, from http://flylib.com/books/en/2.438.1.60/1/

President, H. S. (2014). What’s Wrong with Wikipedia. 2014, from http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?

Flanagin, M. J. M. a. A. J. (2008). Digital Media, Youth and Credibility Cambridge.

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Forever New

Is an online store and falls under the category of surface and earned credible sources. The web page is professionally designed and easy to navigate but also as a frequent buyer here I have consistently visited the website for a number of years now and can say that it has always maintained accurate information.

Weight Watchers

Shown above is the home page of Weight Watchers diet club and a reputed web source. Weight Watchers is available in most of the world and is celebrity endorsed and has had multiple third party endorsements. Their food is sold in many leading grocery shops.

Make-A-Wish Foundation

Make-A-Wish foundation is the screenshot shown above. This can be stated as a presumed source as it is a on a general assumptions and the organisation is world-renowned, it also ends in. org.

Foggs’ Findings

-It is hard to find how credible a website is when there is no accuracy of the information, there are no sources available and nothing to back up the information.

-When no real orgainisation is proved to be supporting it, this can be an issue. If a website claims that it is being supported by a major company, brand or organisation you should always double check this information as it can be false advertisement.

-When shopping online whether it be on an online boutique or a non profit organisation to ensure that the website is credible make sure that PayPal is an option to ensure your details are safe. PayPal is a form of online payments and a very prestigious company.

-If the site is not easy to use and difficult to navigate your way around, the chances of it being a credible source is very slim. No credible source will have a poorly presented webpage.

-Updates should be frequent

-If a webpage has an error, avoid it. No major website, company or organisation will allow typos or errors in any circumstance.

-A professional looking site is always one of the main indicators, but don’t be fooled by someone whom is talented in web design to give you a non credible source.

Why is Wikipedia not a credible resource?

As a student who can be very tempted to click on the Wikipedia links when researching for an assignment I can for one say it is not a credible website. I do agree on researching on Wikipedia for a basic understanding of whatever topic someone may be studying, a good foundation but one that need to be built upon with many credible sources to back it up. As said by Harvard’s student president; “There’s nothing more convenient than Wikipedia if you’re looking for some quick information, and when the stakes are low (you need a piece of information to settle a bet with your roommate, or you want to get a basic sense of what something means before starting more in-depth research), you may get what you need from Wikipedia. In fact, some instructors may advise their students to read entries for scientific concepts on Wikipedia as a way to begin understanding those concepts.” (Harvard, 2014). To then follow up from why it is only good as a beginning point, from my own personal experiences, I, myself have changed a Wikipedia document. I then check an hour later and the false information I had written was still there, I checked the next day and it had been taken down. IN saying this, yes the false information was taken down but it was still up for a certain amount of time. I believe that Wikipedia is not a good source for students as stated before in university assignments it is important to have peer-reviewed sources that are credible and in which I will receive the correct information from.

Credibility – Learning Portfolio Item 1

In todays society being a student and having Internet access majority of the time it can be both a blessing and a curse. When looking online for current information that you are hoping to be true and honest and even posted by a legitimate person is can be hard, we are constantly being hoaxed and false information posted and being posted by people posing to be a “somebody” when they are in fact a nobody. Gone are the day when the only way you can find out current affairs or history by books and newspapers, it is all at the click of a button now. Fogg explains in his article “believability is a good synonym for credibility in virtually all cases” (Fogg, 2003) this can be taken in a couple of different ways, when we read something do we believe it? The answer is generally yes. Going back to saying everything is at a click of a button do we read information and believe that it is true because it is because it is online. When reading an article or post online you have to ask yourself the following questions “who has written it?”, “what type of website is?” and “can you find more than 3 credible sources on this topic?”. When completing these questions and finding out the credibility of the website you will save yourself from over researching and a lot of time and effort. As a student having credible websites are important to me as university assignment standard must always be reviewed from a credible resource.