Can you really believe what you read on the internet ?

[alexmtl]

Can you really believe what you read on the internet when it comes to aquarium advice ?

I have been cruising for information on my next breeding project, and I am disappointed by the searches. It used to be that anyone skilled at Google could find some decent advice (oh, this is going to be one of those rants starting with how good it used to be).

Lately, no not lately, but generally I see that posters /facebookers / purported experts just parrot what they have read on the internet, copy paste, change a few words to avoid plagiarism to create an original post with, insightfully expert advice. How do you discern through this mire of information, especially when you do not have the time to "research" the poster ?

A few years ago I ran into a big box store clerk who gave me a long diatribe on fishkeeping, citing that she had been doing "this" for twenty years and offering credentials through her years of experience and reading. Well, how does one figure what to healthily accept or question when faced with this outstanding resume of expertise ?

How do you determine whether the information you read is correct ? Can you spot the poser imposter who rehashes from what they in turn read on other sites and propogates bad information ? What do you do to quickly assess the veracity of the information, and what do you look for?

[GaryE]

There is no process in Internet information. No editors, no peer editing, etc. When I wrote my books on fish, everything was fact checked by scientist editors. Now, most online fish sources are self published. Ouch.

We are also seeing hidden ads galore - companies seem to be hiring apparent aquarists to post about their products on many forums. It's the age of fake news and propaganda.

How do we protect ourselves?

We have to stop fearing seriousness. Look at the National and international clubs online, with their accumulated expertise. Be skeptical of commercial looking sites. Never accept the first advice unless you trust the poster from experience. And above all, build networks.

[Sbenson11]

If Gary didn't write it, it's probably horse poop

If you have been around this forum for any length of time you know who speaks from experience and info you can trust. Outside the confines of our cozy little network, all bets are off. I use to occasionally post on a local Facebook group but gave up after being constantly shot down by several supposed know it all’s, that looked about 13 from their pictures.

Fish related or otherwise, I take everything I read on the internet with a grain (sometimes bag full) of salt.

Steve

[davefrombc]

When searching for information on any subject I like to check several sources and compare results. Yes, there is a lot of bad information out there, and often a lot of conflicting opinions on good information. I like to look for a lot more opinions on commercial products than for information on how others handled a problem or "home made" an item whether fish related or not. I have been keeping fish for over 60 years, but never focused on any one species or breeding. Many in the hobby for a relatively short time know far more about the intricacies of many species, and indeed are fully familiar with far too many species of fish I've never even heard of. I can only offer my own experience on some of the home brewed equipment of yore, and limited information on culturing or collecting some live foods. Medications, CO2 use and most more sophisticated gear are entirely outside my range of knowledge.

[GaryE]

I think we owe to each other not to make things up. I am very limited in what I know of shrimp. High tech planted tanks? Nope. So when I see those postings, I duck.
If it's something I have learned about, I'll try to be helpful. I like this quiet (too quiet...) forum because there's no one here who pretends to know what they don't. People here know how to say they are guessing when they do that to help. The aggressive newcomer expert/troll is a well known type on other forums, and we've been lucky (or well moderated).

I was away from home with wifi over the holidays, and floating through other forums, I read some of the most astonishing bs. Did you know that if you pour a bottle of whatever brand bacteria into your tank every time your test kit says there's ammonia, you don't need water changes? Aye caramba... don't forget to dechlorinate well water, and remember that all fish deaths are from you having ammonia in your tank (disease seems not to exist). Oh, and if Ich doesn't disappear within 24 hours, it's because you used chemicals. Salt is apparently not a chemical. This hobby can be depressing!

[alexmtl]

I think we owe to each other not to make things up. I like this quiet (too quiet...) forum because there's no one here who pretends to know what they don't. People here know how to say they are guessing when they do that to help.

Well said. I like that we can be honest and share our mistakes. This forum was built upon a community that continues after several years with a small group of us. Quiet, yes. But content words of wisdom build better content (pun intended on first and second use).

[l_l_l]

There are a couple of ways to do reasearch on the internet but you gotta know what site is a good source and what site is not.

What I do is go in the Advanced search options and add the websites to the "exclude from results".