How Reliable is Google?

The answer is, it’s spectacularly reliable. Unfortunately, for the untrained eye, or those with malintent, it can be misguiding. Take this instance: whenever you search for something, two clicks down there is a Wikipedia article, containing a detailed explanation – at an alarmingly researched degree – an answer to your question. You can learn historically accurate dates, complete anthologies of philosophers, and the discovery and function of pseudoephedrine. Now, most of you would be thinking, “yeah, but anybody can edit Wikipedia.” Why yes, yes that is true. Anyone with access to a computer can indeed edit Wikipedia. “It’s pretty easy. I mean I haven’t done it, but people do.” And yes, you’re right again, people do edit Wikipedia. However, truth be told, it’s not that easy to edit Wikipedia, which makes Google incredibly reliable.

This story is meant to illustrate two points: Google is a monstrously impressive behemoth and we are behind as a country in computer literacy.

After I got home from work, I sat down to write a post on my WordPress; it’s relatively new and has little traffic – all of which is received when I publish them to Twitter or Facebook. I was curious about proper grammar and found an enormous amount of results. One of which was a detailed process on how to descriptively write about stuttering and stammering. I was impressed with their explanation and found it to be a credible source of information. As an aspiring writer I am interested. I spot a link to follow them.

“Create a tumblr account”, I read aloud in my head, “but I have a WordPre…Ohhhhh”. Enlightenment #1.

Not too long after, I needed some information on Eugene O’Neill. I googled (which is now a socially acceptable verb) his name and clicked a link to his Wikipedia page. A customer at the bar suggested a play by him but I forgot the title. I scrolled to the bottom and located the story, googled the title with the letters “PDF”, downloaded a free PDF from the first page, uploaded it to my e-reader, and began reading. Enlightenment #2.

I was awestruck at the simplicity of it all. Because of Google, information is literally a few clicks a way. Google is our phone book, our map, our library, our help desk, our news outlet, our entertainment, our one-stop-shop for all that we need. Cheers Google. You make all of our lives a 1000x easier.

This brought to mind the necessary question: if we depend so heavily on Google for information, how reliable is it? To start, let’s take a look at the quite public information on how to edit a Wikipedia page. It’s not too long.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Help:How_to_edit_a_page

I bet most of you didn’t read the whole thing. I’m assuming most stopped and quit when they realized it was nothing like tumblr or posting things on Twitter. Some of you probably didn’t even click the link. Shame on you. But this isn’t really your fault. We, as a society, never placed a huge importance on computer science. Hell, even if we did, you probably wouldn’t know it and just say it was “for the nerds”.

I attempted to challenge the aforementioned retort when quoting Wikipedia, “yeah, but anybody can edit Wikipedia.” OK, well let’s see if I can fudge some information by editing a Wikipedia page. After clicking edit a page I read the brief header explaining how my IP address will be cataloged regardless if I had an account. This told me right away that I shouldn’t start messing around with Wikipedia. Not only did I not want to get involved legally, I didn’t even know where to start. I clicked their helpful link to learn how to edit a wiki page before editing one. Duhhh! I started reading and realized that, even with my limited 15 months of exposure to IT, I was kind of lost. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know a whole lot when it comes to programming.

This goes to show how serious people are about protecting the freedom of information. They as members, bearing the backbone of society, care about protecting the foundation on which our vast knowledge base rests. They, as we all ought to, believe information should be available to all and subject to none.

The second part of this article comes on the heels of this revelation; we as a nation need to become computer literate; it is how we as a society share information, connect, and communicate. It is how we learn to tie a bow-tie, post pictures of our friends, and research for school. A computer literate person is more equipped for the demands of the high-speed world in which we live.

Computer literacy isn’t contained just to programming – we can leave that up to the professionals for now – it encompasses an understanding and appreciation for everything the internet is capable of. From how we use it, and how it uses us. We must be assured our privacy and information is protected from those who know its power. Complex passwords, Antivirus and anti-malware programs, will protect your machine from the open, sometimes dangerous, internet. Street smarts go a long way too; only open emails from people you trust, navigate reputable sites, and download programs from only from trusted websites. All of this simply boils down to one message – put on your boots before heading into battle.

I challenge everyone to explore how to protect their computer, to access free information and programs to kick start your computer literacy education, and to play and learn why the internet is the most beautiful luxury of the 21st century. Find authors who have influenced your favorite writers, join forums to chat with like-minded individuals, learn a new skill, listen to podcasts, and above all, improve yourself with Google.