The year is 2014, and the press as we know it has ceased to exist. The transformation began in 1989 with Tim Berners-Lee's creation of the World Wide Web. As Amazon, Google, Tivo and Friendster hit the technology scene during the '90s, the public was given further access to a plethora of information. Then began the buyouts: in 2008, Googlezon was created with the merger of Google and Amazon.
Two years later, the news wars arose, concluding with the Supreme Court's decision favoring Googlezon over the New York Times. The once reputable newspaper became a mere newsletter for the elderly and the elite, leaving the general public with no choice but to turn to EPIC. Created in 2014, EPIC (the Evolving Personalized Information Construct) provided narrow, shallow and sensational news. But this is what the world wanted; this is what they chose.
This scenario unfolded on Wednesday night, when students and faculty sat in Pearson 104, watching an eight-minute-long, fantastical-but-foreboding video on the dangers of media monopolies. It was given as the opening to Sree Sreenivasan's lecture on how to effectively use the Web.
Sreenivasan, the Dean of Students at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, is the host of WABC-TV's "Tech Guru" in New York City and a weekly columnist for Poynter.org. Aside from his academic and professional responsibilities, Sreenivasan leads worldwide workshops providing internet information to people of all ages.
Once contacted by Tufts Communications and Mass Media Studies program, Sreenivasan said he jumped at the chance to speak at Tufts, which he said he believes to be "one of the world's greatest learning institutions." During his one-night visit to Boston, Sreenivasan commenced his lecture with reference to "migratory patterns." He said that the majority of Web users constantly return to the same Web sites out of comfort, and that it is possible for them to broaden their "journeys."
In keeping with his introductory movie, Sreenivasan said that dangers arise when one company owns everything. Although he is a Google fan, he warned against monopolization's extremes, referring to a lecture he gave to sixth graders who believed "if it's not on Google, it doesn't exist."
He supplied his audience with Web sites to broaden their Internet searches, giving the example of MammaHealth.com, a search engine owned by Intasys Corp. that redeveloped into a deeper search engine specifically for health issues. On the site, Sreenivasan typed in "potty training," a problem he and his wife are currently encountering with their twins. Instead of the extensive sites provided by Google, MammaHealth only displayed useful articles written by reputable authors.
Sreenivasan also displayed HousingMaps.com, an alternative to Mapquest.com. HousingMaps, the marriage of Google and Craigslist, allows home-seekers to find available real estate on one side of the screen, and on the other, to view a map comparing the actual locations and proximity of that listing.
In addition to illustrating the vastness of the information available on the Web, Sreenivasan lectured on the Web's dangers -- such as loss of privacy. Once something is on the Internet, it cannot be erased. It is even ineffective, he said, to delete e-mails.
Sreenivasan warned the audience to be skeptical when adding information to the Internet. When writing e-mails, one should double and triple check everything, he said, adding, "There's no anonymity on the Web."
While he is a strong advocate of Internet use, Sreenivasan also stressed the importance of traditional sources of information, like books. His father bought him an encyclopedia the day he was born, and since then he has continuously read the hard copy as a source of further knowledge.
Many people, he said, believe that the Internet is a place containing all the answers. "But it's not," he said. "It's a place filled with clues to the answers."
Sreenivasan showed the example of an article on the Web entitled "Feline Reactions to Bearded Men." In the satirical report, cats' reactions to photographs of bearded men were presented as studies by a scientist. At first glance, the evidence seems believable. But as one scrolls down the page, it is evident on the site's bibliography that the site is a sham: it is not probable that Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote the article, "A Study of How Cats Respond to Body Hair."
The humorous case highlighted the dangers of always trusting information found on the Internet. Sreenivasan emphasized that while the Web is exceedingly helpful, sources are not always accurate. To compensate, he supplied various reputable Web sites aimed at providing factual materials. Google Scholar, for example, narrows search engines to focus on specified academic journals.
For more help on finding quality Web sites, Sreenivasan urged students to look at his personal favorites on www.sree.net.
