"But I read it on the internet"

You've no idea how many times I've heard that. As if it's gospel.

When I was a kid, people used to say "well, you shouldn't believe what you read in the papers". So why is it that people tend to always believe what they've read on the internet?

After all, anyone can start a blog; anyone can have a website. You don't need qualifications. Or permission. Just sign up for blogging software.

You don't even have to do that. You can join a forum or social network and rant away to your heart's content.

But does that make it right?

I thought that everyone knew that Wikipedia, for example, is full of erroneous information. It stands to reason because ANYONE can add articles to Wikipedia - and who is to say that they are all experts? because the name include 'pedia' it doesn't make the site an ENCYCLOpedia.

Last year in Scotland, student were blaming Wikipedia for their poor exam results - saying that the information they got from the internet was incorrect. Well, if they are dumb enough to believe that every word they read on the internet is 100% correct, then they are not bright enough to pass their exams anyway.

But I even get this from clients (grown up people!) sometimes "Oh, but I read it on the internet".

There's a lot of totally incorrect information on the internet. There are also a lot of very out-of-date websites. What might have been true when it was written, might be completely incorrect now.

Here's a story I like:
Writer Colin Bateman describes how, on looking himself up on Wikipedia, he was dismayed to discover that his young son had gone online and added the sentence: "Mr Bateman is currently suffering from penile dysfunction." Fortunately his dad saw the funny side – and was proud his child could spell "dysfunction" correctly.