All websites have a domain name extension, and the most typical is
.com,
which stands for "company." Anyone with Internet access and the
resources to
pay a nominal fee can create a .com website, so the extension does not
immediately grant credibility.
As the number of domain names has proliferated, administrators have
added
.net, which functions as an overflow for .com, and .org, which is
primarily
used by nonprofits and advocacy groups. The same scrutiny should apply.
Websites that end in .edu have more intellectual currency because they
are
typically connected to educational institutions. As colleges and
universities become more generous with their knowledge supply this is
becoming a gold mine of research potential. Some professors have been
known
to post their entire course material online.
The .gov domain is reserved for government entities like the Department
of
Justice, an excellent source for crime statistics, and the Food and
Drug
Administration, a wealth of information on new pharmaceuticals.
Government
information is typically reliable, but one word of caution: while the
law
requires government agencies to be transparent, it does not require
them to
be user-friendly.
Other domain names apply to a specific country, and network
administrators
are working on introducing specific new names, but those are the most
common.
Check for an author
The Internet is a good place for anonymity, but those looking for
credible
information should be wary of someone unwilling to put their name on
the
line.
Concerns about privacy are overblown. Anyone who wants their opinion or
wisdom to be public knowledge should be more than willing to put their
name
to it.
If the posting is anonymous, there is probably a reason, and it may be
best
to keep clicking.