TOW #13: "InternetFactChecking.com" (Written)

                We’ve all heard the expression, “Don’t believe everything you see on the Internet.” InternetFactChecking.com, a satirical essay published in the New Yorker, targeted that specific expression head on by using humor to encourage to citizens to take that expression to heart. The essay uses exemplification and a Q/A organization to convey the absurdity of some things on the Internet, and therefore encourage people to be cautious when using it.

                The author, Calvin Trillin’s use of exemplification shows the reader the dubious nature of some information on the Internet. For example, Trillin includes an example about how a single person used techniques to corner the world’s gluten supply. Trillin states that since many groceries were now gluten-free, he read on the Internet that, “someone has been buying up gluten (at bargain-basement prices) and storing it in caves in Utah” (par. 3). Readers recognize the apparent absurdity in this remark, which Trillin claims to have read on cashgab.com. By showing this remark of dubious veracity, Trillin is able to convey that the Internet is sometimes not a trustworthy area for correct information.

                Trillin also uses the Q/A organization throughout his essay to show the plight of someone that might actually believe ridiculous claims on the Internet. This organization is laid out like a letter, with Trillin posing as an alias asking Internet sites about various claims that other sites make. Trillin writes after discussing the Koch brothers’ relations to a mayor that, “Whoever told you that you can’t believe everything on the Internet is a deeply cynical and untrustworthy person” (par. 2). This satirical remark uses irony to show the absurdity of claims on the Internet. By portraying people as untrustworthy, Trillin uses irony to show that the Internet, which is untrustworthy, should be a well-known, accepted fact. This process is repeated throughout the essay which increases the strength of Trillin’s claim of fact.

                Overall, Triilin did a great job merging fact and humor throughout InternetFactChecking.com. The absurd examples used and the organization of the essay show readers that the Internet is in fact untrustworthy, and should be accepted as that. Triilin therefore subtly makes a claim of policy in his essay, which is able to effectively convince his audience of the Internet’s trustworthiness, or lack thereof.