Week 4 Prompts and Answers

How do you judge the value of expertise on the Web?
Interesting question. I’m known (with smiles) in my family as the guy to ask the comparative rating questions, (“Is A better than B for application X?”) not because I have first hand knowledge but because I am a research hound. The level of effort I direct toward such investigations is proportionate to the importance (often “value” or “cost”) of the decision, but can be skewed positively by personal interest in the issue. (Want to talk sailboats?)

When researching purchases, I frequently haunt the Consumer Reports website, or Epinions, or the CNET forums, etcetera. I like it when I find a site with “satisfaction ratings”, such as those at Amazon. I also derive comfort from the law of large numbers; when I go to NewEgg and find that 900 people have rated a hard drive and left prose descriptions of their rationale, I tend to trust the overall summary of results. I do believe in the wisdom of crowds. I pay attention to the contrarians—I want to know why they are outliers, know to what they were paying attention. I value “Real Name” reviews, wherein verified users stand behind their statements.

When seeking non-purchase information, I try to find sources that have "trust rating" mechanisms, as these can serve as a combination of peer review and as indicators of the experience others have had with this source.  A long history of participation at a durable site can lend credibility.

Does it differ from your notion of expertise in face-to-face settings?
Somewhat, in that with F2F situations I more directly undertake to qualify the “expert”. This is easier in areas in which I too have some expertise—I can probe for edges in my “advisor’s” experience. When I’m out of my content area, I often ask specific questions about the “down side” of a product or action being recommended. Sales-minded individuals are often only prepared to speak to the up-side of their recommendation, whereas someone genuinely comfortable in their expertise can usually address trade-offs.