I Swear I'm Not a Dog

As the famous New Yorker cartoon says, "On the Internet, no one knows if you're a dog." It's remarkably easy to create a false identity (or several) on the Web, and to use these fake identities for a variety of nefarious purposes. I did this in my younger days as a web user, setting up fake e-mail addresses to sign on to things I probably shouldn't have been signing into. The nature of the Web as a medium also allows for anyone with access to publish content. So, as a consumer of Web writing in personal and professional contexts, one must consider the source to all pages found on the web, and investigate the accuracy and honesty of the content one reads on the web. There are several factors one must take into consideration when deciding whether a certain piece of content from the web is both accurate and honest. When I read on the web, I feel that independent news carriers are easier to trust and, in the end, more accurate, honest, and ethical towards the general public they serve. In my opinion, major news media sources cannot and should not be trusted since all their news and content is published or broadcasted with the goal of gaining profit and making money for the corporation that ultimately produces the content. I have found that there are more incidents of plagiarism in mainstream media sources compared to independent locales. The New Republic, The Washington Post, and even CBS Evening News with Dan Rather have been accused of plagiarism, or through a Bush-ian lens, this is known as 'harboring terrorists.' But I digress...
The web is especially tricky, and leaves more room for the disingenuous in the field of journalism. Honesty and accuracy is much harder to check and edit for when people now have the ability to publish content instantly and inexpensively. Therefore, as far as honesty and accuracy are concerned, I personally trust sites like www.indymedia.org and www.alternet.com for truthful, up-to-date, and relevant news on subjects I want to read about, rather than corporate-owned mass market media sources.

As a producer of Web writing, one must make it clear to readers that what is produced is being accurate and honest. I have found that shooting from the hip, ad-libing or improvising serves me well in both public discourse, daily life, and writing in blogs like this one. If everything you write is current and reflective, and worth people, users will find it and tack onto it; there is no need for sources weverythinghtig you say is yours. Also as producers, one must be careful not to divulge too much authenticating information about oneself, as well as being too vague and guarded with users and feedback from those that log on and read content. I expect there were and still are some sort of underground, anonymous writers or media producers working under an alias just to be gimmicky and different. This, in my mind, shreds one's credibility in a true discussion. What would their opinion matter if they couldn't be brave enough reveal the most elemendetailsials of one's existence. Therefore, one must be either spontaneously brilliant or cleverly and diligently resourceful toconsideredered accurate and honest in the realm of production. Working under false pretenses, identities, or inconclusive sources will damage, if not destroy oncredibilitylity in journalism on the web and beyond. Accuracy and honesty must always be upheld in the hearts and minds of those the media serve, which consists of the public, as well as those that create the media.