Should I believe the Information on the Internet?

Accurate information is critical to maximize healthcare from diagnoses to treatment, as well as establishing trust in the patient-doctor relationship. Many patients seeking answers to their healthcare questions often use the internet as their guide. Although the need to education oneself in matters of health is critical, the patient at the same time needs to be able evaluate the source of that data.

The internet is filled with information, but too often that data is not tied to anything, and rumor is dangerous play. The patient needs to be their own advocate when it comes to evaluating information found on the internet. This includes identifying the author or institution from where the information is gained? The author’s credentials - education/experience – in this field? Is this data tied to any studies? Is the reader able to further authenticate the information by contacting the writers home institution, etc (1)?

Clearly, there is a great need for knowledge to be democratized, but at the same time the internet is a relatively new tool, founded in 1969 between two research teams at UCLA and Stanford (3). Although in many ways the internet has drastically supported the dissemination of knowledge, it is still an open platform without any type of regulations to govern best practices or standards of accuracy. It will be up to the patient themselves utilizing a healthy dose of being able to critically evaluate information found on the internet along with dialog found in the patient-doctor relationship based on trust that will be our best guide to health (1).

¹Evaluating Internet Resources. (n.d.). Retrieved May 4, 2020, from https://www.library.georgetown.edu/tutorials/research-guides/evaluating-internet-content 

²Hall, J. (2018, September 2). The Eight Best Types of Social Media for Advertising: Five Channels Marketing. Retrieved May 4, 2020, from https://fivechannels.com/the-eight-best-types-of-social-media-for-advertising/

³Hogeback, J. (n.d.). Who Invented the Internet? Retrieved May 4, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/story/who-invented-the-internet