Many forms of online skeptical outreach can involve a considerable commitment of time. Blogging, podcasting and even social media can take up many hours of each day. But what of those skeptics who would like to be involved, but don't have that kind of time to devote? It turns out there are many options.
One is a tool called Web of Trust or WOT. This is a crowd-sourced project to warn other Internet users about websites that engage in bad business practices, are not careful about user privacy, or are otherwise untrustworthy. Users load the WOT software as an add-on to their Internet browser, and it provides a red/amber/green traffic light indicating a rating of each website visited. At last count, over 26 million people have loaded the free software and therefore have access to these ratings.I've blogged about WOT on more than one occasion this year, as I believe it could be a great way for skeptics to reach the general public. This is because the ratings provided by WOT are aggregated from input provided by the users of the tool, weighted by an algorithm that guards against attempts to game the system. Skeptics can contribute to this just like anyone else can.
Once you have the software loaded into your browser, it takes only two clicks of your mouse to submit your rating for a site that you are currently viewing. This minimal investment of time could help warm millions of people about bad information on pseudoscience and paranormal websites. It takes only seconds but could have a large impact.
Every skeptic should load WOT and take the time to rate both misinformed and skeptical websites as appropriate whenever we can. It's a great way to get involved in skepticism online without turning it into a full-time hobby.
Tim Farley is a JREF Research Fellow in electronic media. He is the creator of the website What's the Harm and also blogs at Skeptical Software Tools. He researched the information in JREF's Today in Skeptic History iPhone app and has given presentations at TAM 6, 7 and 9. You can follow him on Twitter here.