THE DANGERS OF THE INTERNET
I have been doing some research into using products with essential oils included in them, as to toxicity etc. Although in fairness I have found some sellers extolling there credentials as vegan, sustainable, healthy and so on .. whilst having chemical ingredients in their product that are regarded as unsafe for humans let alone animals.
It all Looks the Same to Me
So after some time researching I began to notice that every source was basically saying the very same things, to identical in some cases to be co incidence. It is clear that all these ‘reporters’ are quoting the same source or sources. the question we should ask is any of it correct. … To simply ‘Copy and paste’ is lazy. More so when reading some website copy you realise that they (the creators) have lack of Knowledge ignorance on the subject matter, assuming they care at all. Remember some people start businesses because they believe it is a way of making money. They have no connection with the product and subject matter at all.
Social Media and Influencing
In this age of Tik Tok and Meta (in it’s many guises) you can exposure yourself to a constant stream of what is largely misinformation. It is reported the a very large percentage of the younger generations get their information from such social media sites. If one the now many influencers tell you that this wonder product will cure your arthritis, the tendency is to believe it with really checking beyond that. ( The influence is getting paid to say these things!) In my experience not many people go to the trouble of fact checking the content. The BBC have been forced to because they too were falling foul of misinformation. Couple that potential to mislead with a business desire to make profit no matter what and you have recipe for problems.
Looks Fantastic Darling
As you research you find websites that look great, say all the correct things – Organic, Vegan!, Cruelty Free! Sustainable, all very slick …. and then you discover their products are far from any of those things.
A.I.
Now of course we have AI. If you ask Ai a simply question it searches the internet and regurgitates the information it can find in some sort of structured way. The Ai we deal with does not invent things or extrapolate. But, if the most common source for information is website ‘A’ it will give you that and that is what will be copied and pasted into your sellers website and so it continues.
Verify
When you are dealing with sources of information for any serious investigation then you check the source, check again and check again. Verify that you think the information may be correct or at least believable. Some sellers will deliberately lie to you in regard to the content of the website and the contents of their product.
Verify …… if they are making any medicinal claims
Verify ……. if their prices seem a bit odd, high or low.
Verify ……. if the company/person appears to not want you to contact them