The importance of checking your facts

Today and yesterday saw the confirmation of a huge hoax. Last week a large piece of research was released which highlighted that Internet Explorer Users were stupid. News coverage appeared in the likes of the BBC,CNN and several nationals including the Telegraph and the Mail. According to the Aptiquant “research” which tested 100,000 people and included a table, there was a substantial relationship between a users’ cognitive ability and their choice of browser. IE 6 users came bottom in the IQ stakes, which became a huge story.

How did the study come about? Someone who was frustrated with their browser decided to lash out by sending though a press release with the attention grabbing headline “Is Internet Explorer For The Dumb? A New Study Suggests Exactly That.” They obviously went to a lot of trouble – creating a fake website and even stealing the corporate identity from another website. Some questioned the credibility of the results, but not quickly enough to stop the story getting widespread coverage worldwide. Though an investigation was launched, it took a little while for the survey to be exposed. Interestingly, there were a couple of ways that the hoax could have been spotted quickly which the creator has blogged about. I’ve highlighted a couple of suggestions below.

• A link to the website AtCheap.com was in the footer
• Checking the address on Google would have revealed that it didn’t exist
• The IQ test mentioned in the report cannot be administered online due to copyright

Whilst this fake survey could have negative ramifications for future PR surveys, there are many reasons why it shouldn’t. Surveysare a great way to give brands exposure and reach out to a wider audience. Legitimate surveys can reveal some interesting and sometimes controversial results which appeal to readers for example.

Today and yesterday have seen more stories covering the Aptiquant survey hoax and there have been quite a few red faces, but perhaps it has exposed just how overworked and under pressure journalists really are. One big lesson that everyone can learn from the whole experience is that it does pay to spend even 5 minutes checking the validity of a source, even if you are pressed for time.