Shop for any answer you want.
I love the internet. I spend a lot of time online and a lot of time using search engines. Being able to tap into information on any topic is an enormous leap forward in access to information.
The problem lies in the accuracy of that information. There is a huge assortment of opinions, ‘facts’, studies and ramblings to weed through. I have come to the conclusion that you can basically support almost any opinion you have, you just have to Google it (or Yahoo! it or Bing it, you get the point).
I’ll give you an example. This article says Strawberries are one of the healthiest foods you can consume http://bit.ly/Bw5oM while this one has them on their most dangerous foods list http://bit.ly/rUZzf.
Here’s a marketing example. This article says the best time to send promotional emails is Tuesdays http://bit.ly/69LF6, while this one supports Thursday deployment http://bit.ly/oRSTt.
Is this a problem with the medium? In some ways, yes. But to know it is to love it. Where the danger lies is with people who read something (regardless of medium) and claim it as fact.
It goes back to the old mantra ‘there are two sides to every story’. When people want to prove a point they ignore the other side and focus on backing up their own opinion. For marketers it just shows us how important it is for us to test and get our own results. As citizens, it reminds us to seek information on both sides of the spectrum and remember that the truth usually lies somewhere between two extremes.
Kristy
