Usenet Credibility Higher than Internet

Last Updated: Jan 01, 2012

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The University of Southern California has been conducting a study of internet users and the technologies that surround it. And what they have found may surprise you. According to Professor Jeffrey Cole, credibility has decreased for the internet based information sources, and social networks. While another study over the same period of time shows that trust among the Usenet community in the information they are receiving from Usenet sources has increased slightly.

A Turning Point For Our Digital Age

The USC study concluded that while the constant social connection, massive amounts of information, and unlimited purchasing powers, was nice, there were adverse effects. The Professor said that on the downside there has been an increase in time demands, more concerns about privacy, and technology proliferation. Two extremes…you can connect more, but you have to worry that your employer may be making more demands, and information/technology overloads.

Amazing – An Honor System That Actually Works

Usenet operates from a decentralized system. Most of the time Usenet newsgroups are moderated, like a forum, and unreliable information won’t be posted in these groups. If a group isn’t moderated, unreliable and unbelievable information will be deleted, and discredited by other users quickly…it’s easy to determine what information is good and which is bogus. Usually the bad, or bogus posts don’t last very long before they are pushed into the background and ignored.

More About The Study

The study concluded that only 15% of the internet surfers they surveyed, (2000 in total,) trusted a portion of what they were getting, unless it was a government website, or an established news media outlet. Of the government and media readers almost 80% believed what they were reading. In comparison, almost 85% of Usenet users could believe the information they were getting. Looking at the way Usenet operates, and the results, it’s not surprising.

A Trustworthy News Source

The findings of the studies makes it clear why there are more people migrating daily to using Usenet newsgroups to get their information. The fact that the information actually gets there faster wasn’t factored in either. (CERN scientists have posted results from a test before it was released to the media even.) The speed of the internet has been challenged.

To learn more about how and why Usenet information is more reliable then other news sources on the internet, how to get it, or how to use it, you can find out more in our tutorials, and informational articles on Usenetreviews.