Almost all of us receive chain letters mostly from friends and relatives. The sender forwards those e-mails to all his / her contacts in good faith. They generally do it to support a noble cause or to share what they believe is true and others especially their near and dear ones should know. Such Internet hoaxes are very common and when we know a particular message is a hoax, we are a bit disappointed but quickly recover and heed the next we receive until that is debunked too.

While some e-mails and false chain letters, may have been circulated by individuals just for the sake of fun. Others may have been initiated on purpose, either to discredit a source, to malign someone, or to propagate conspiracy theories etc.

Now, what happens? First of all, the Internet is an ocean of knowledge and is not governed or regulated by governments, agencies or corporations. It means you can access it from anywhere in the world and can find whatever you want to know. The search engines such as google etc are like crystal balls and they show you amazing things and tell you astonishing stories, all at a click away.

A- In a court of law, you generally do not tell the jury what you can’t prove, even if that is true. Why? Because nobody will take that as credible evidence even if they know that it might be true. The issue here is of credibility.

B- In a hypermarket, if you want to select an item from the shelf where there are a number of similar products available carrying different price tags, the choice becomes difficult as the number of options increases. If you try to read the product information given on the packs, the choice becomes even more difficult. Most of us either buy a product that we have been using or the one that has been recommended by a friend. The issue here is of credibility.

As the world is shrinking and a global version of market is emerging, the center of power is also being converged. Corporations are becoming more powerful. Governments are becoming more secretive. But how can they do it amidst an ocean of information available to all. The traditional media, known as the print and electronic media and the limitless Internet are placed far apart on the control continuum.

If you look at the communication loop, it is still the same, the sender, the receiver, and the feedback etc. But in modern times a distortion has occurred, known as the Internet revolution, over which the governments, agencies and corporations have little control. But, the human psyche hasn’t really changed much. Someone raising a false alarm all the time is likely to be ignored even if he tells the truth. The issue here is of credibility.

Now, how to discredit a great medium such as the Internet?

It is very simple indeed. How? See this. Flood the Internet with email hoaxes. Such chain letters will travel across the planet. After being noticed by concerned people, the hoax will be debunked. The Internet users will also come to know that what they had read on the Internet and believed as true was in fact a lie. When this process continues, the users will start believing the information available on the Internet less. They will resort to traditional sources for information such as television and newspapers etc. These traditional media are under certain influences. They must maintain their credibility, hence will avoid reporting something they are not hundred percent sure (Refer to the court case above). They have to be in line with their respective government stance on certain issues. They have to show what their readers and viewers like, whether true or partially true. They have a cluster of buyers and suppliers, like those who give ads, those who buy their goods and services etc.

If you see that widely believed conspiracy theories circulating on the Internet are debunked, chain letters turn out to be false, emails from Nigeria scam artists are fraudulent, then your level of trust erodes. You tend to view the Internet with suspicion. You don’t believe any news on the Internet unless it is subsequently reported and confirmed by the traditional media.

That is one of the purposes of sending out false information and chain letters. In the end, you have to analyze it yourself. Before forwarding any chain letter, check it out whether it is true or not. Use google or any other search engines to verify that what you have received is true and never forward chain letters if you are not sure of their credibility.