John Travolta Explains the Internet

In response to yesterday's post regarding the trustworthiness of content on the Internet, Professor Ireland commented:

If I can show you books that we both agree are trash, is it reasonable to conclude that libraries of books are mostly worthless?

Okay, this is a valid point, yet conversely serves to prove my argument. There are, indeed, a lot of trashy books out there, but people TRUST books. The general perception is that books are trustworthy, therefore people trust what they see written in them. Reality doesn't really matter; if it did we'd certainly have a different president...

To illustrate my point I've invited a special guest star: John Travolta. John's historic cool factor explains my point.

In 1974, John Travolta was unknown, much like the Internet since Al Gore had not invented it yet. Starting in 1975, with his role in Welcome Back Kotter, John became cool. In 1977 he became the Disco dancing, white-suited personification of uber-coolness in Saturday Night Fever. Then, somehow, by the mid-eighties John sported a mullet and became the least cool human on the face of the Earth. He was the mocked by school children and late night comics as "John Revolta." Along comes 1994 and Pulp Fiction and like a flash, John is cool again.

Now, John Travolta didn't change in this time (well, okay, the hair). There is nothing about his DNA that is inherently cool or uncool. He continued to make movies and try to be a star, but our perception of him changed and that made all the difference. When we perceived him as cool, we bought tickets to his movies and tuned in when Barbara Walters made him cry. When we perceived him as uncool we bought tickets to someone else's movie.

Likewise, the Internet will not be a persuasive medium until people perceive it as a credible and reliable source of information, regardless of its inherent worth. In no way do I advocate any form of censorship, but we must find a way build trust in campaign and issue advocacy sites before people will be persuaded by the information they find on them.

Thanks for stopping by The Femocrat, John.