Get off the Page!
Caulfield and Wineburg recommend leaving a website to investigate its credibility elsewhere. Reading a page carefully can reveal what it claims, but checking independent information about the source requires lateral reading.
THE IDEA
Get off the Page!
The authors describe college students and university professors who struggled to evaluate websites despite being capable readers and critical thinkers. Why did both groups go off the rails?
Part of their problem had to do with being smart—so smart they thought they could outsmart the web. They reckoned they could tell if a site was reliable just by looking at it.
An even bigger problem was that these smart people approached online texts the same way they approached a printed book or magazine. They read vertically. They started at the top of the screen and moved toward the bottom—the way we all learned to read in school. Sometimes they skimmed; sometimes they pressed on an internal link. But their eyes pretty much stayed glued to the original site, even though they were told they could do anything they normally would, like leave the site and search elsewhere. To determine a site's credibility, they placed their faith in their intelligence and reading ability. When nothing outrageous jumped out, they concluded: “pretty reasonable.”
Here's the thing: what got these smart people into hot water was a category error. They took highly honed skills from the world of print and applied them to a medium, the internet, that plays by different rules. It’s like a star baseball player with a sweet swing applying the same motion on the golf course. What works so well in baseball flops in golf.
When to use it
When researching a controversial topic online, use lateral reading: open new tabs to check the source's reputation, funding, and other coverage before trusting any single page.
Evaluating health advice from a website: leave the site to see if reputable medical organizations cite the same information or if the site is known for misinformation.
In education, teach students to 'get off the page' as a fundamental skill for digital literacy, especially when verifying news articles or academic sources.
When encountering a viral post on social media, avoid reading it in isolation; search for fact-checks or alternative viewpoints before sharing.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Student trusting a slick-looking website
A student researching a topic finds a visually appealing website with professional design. Instead of leaving the site to check the source's reputation or search for other perspectives, they read the page carefully from top to bottom. Finding no obvious red flags, they deem it credible. Later, they discover the site is a biased advocacy group, missing crucial context they could have found by 'getting off the page.'
Professor evaluating a news article
A university professor comes across a news article sharing a surprising statistic. Rather than opening a new tab to verify the claim with other sources or check the article's author and publication background, they read the entire article vertically. Convinced by the professional tone and lack of errors, they share it with colleagues—only to learn it originated from a satirical outlet.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
Think of a time you evaluated a website's credibility. Did you stay on the page (vertical reading) or leave to investigate (lateral reading)? How might the outcome have changed if you used the other approach?
What cues might make you think a website looks trustworthy even if it isn't? How can you avoid falling for that illusion?
How does the 'category error' of applying print-reading strategies to the web manifest in other domains like social media or video content?
Often confused with
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Verified How to Think Straight, Get Duped Less, and Make Better Decisions about What to Believe Online (Mike Caulfield, Sam Wineburg)