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Trusting scientific experts in an online world.
1Department for the Study of Culture, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense, Denmark.
Synthese
|February 23, 2022
Summary
Online information seeking changes how we trust scientific experts. Susceptibility to manipulation becomes key, favoring cooperative experts over preemptive ones, altering trustworthiness criteria for online scientific information.
Area of Science:
- Social epistemology
- Information science
Background:
- Evaluating scientific information (e.g., climate change, vaccine safety) is challenging for the public due to specialized knowledge requirements.
- Trustworthy expert testimony is crucial for laypersons to access accurate scientific information.
- The internet has become a primary source for scientific information, presenting new challenges and opportunities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how the online environment alters the evaluation of expert trustworthiness.
- To challenge the assumption that traditional markers of trustworthiness apply equally in online and offline contexts.
- To identify unique features of online information-seeking that influence expert evaluation.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis of social epistemology and online information-seeking behaviors.
- Argumentation regarding the unique characteristics of online environments and their impact on trust.
- Introduction of the 'cooperative' versus 'preemptive' expert distinction.
Main Results:
- The susceptibility of online information to manipulation emerges as a dominant marker of trustworthiness.
- Online environments foster a preference for 'cooperative' experts over 'preemptive' ones.
- Criteria for assessing expert trustworthiness differ significantly between online and offline information acquisition.
Conclusions:
- Rethinking expert trustworthiness is necessary due to the unique nature of online information environments.
- The shift towards cooperative experts online has implications for how scientific information is disseminated and received.
- Future research should explore the practical applications of these findings in digital literacy and science communication.
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