Internet Realities

Search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc.) are efficient bloodhounds with no minds of their own. When you enter a word or a string of words, the search engine checks for those words only, not caring how they are used. Some Web masters use words to lure unsuspecting searchers to their site because visitor numbers are important for sales and search-engine ranking. However, some sites are clearly not for children.

Here are some tips for smart searching:

Refine your search. When typing in your subject description, be as specific as you can. For example, ‘Sexual Assault Agencies’ in quotes, instead of ‘Agencies’ to get better results.
Look before you click. When search results come up, read the results carefully: Does the title of the site have any relationship to what you are searching for? Does the Web address tell you anything? For example, imagine you typed in: ‘Girl Scout Swaps’ and the following results came up:

‘Girl Scout Council XYZ Girl Scout SWAPS. Special Whatchamacallits Affectionately Pinned Somewhere. www.girlscoutsxyz.org/tools.html

"Baywatch Girls” Girl Scout swaps role-playing sex…nude female nurses…www.urtrapped.com/baywatcher.html’

Which would you choose?

You need to make sense of the material you uncover and distinguish between fact, opinion, rumors, lies and outright filth.

From: Girl Scout Leader Magazine, Winter 2004, Vol. 81, No.

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