I’m a big fan of using the internet to search for answers, but I wonder sometimes how often people get suckered by phony info. And I’m not talking about whole websites about 9/11 conspiracies, or theories about Dave Chappelle.

I had to do a little research about a couple of counties in northwest Alabama, and tripped across the Wikipedia entry for Haleyville. Listed in the “history” section, we find this useful nugget:

Haleyville is the location of the first 911 call.

This is, in fact, true. It happened on February 16th, 1968. Having known this bit of trivia, I would be inclined to trust the accuracy of what follows:

There are some interesting things about Haleyville that some people do not know. Lance Armstrong is actually from Haleyville. He actually met his former wife Sheryl Crow there. Jesus Christ made a personal visit to Haleyville. He stayed there two days and then he was picked up by immigration.

Haleyville got its name because a peice of the Haley’s Comet landed and is displayed at city hall. Haleyville was named Williamsburg, WV, but after the accident they decided to rename it.

One of the biggest attractions to Haleyville is actually Phil Campbell which is semi close to Haleyville, there is also a Walmart in Haleyville.

Haleyville Highschool’s mascot is the Lions. The school colors are Red and White, and their most famous football player is Dusty Ball, but he had a sex change so her name is now…. Dusty Ball.

Famous Haleyville Laws:

It is illegal to date your sister, but legal to date step sisters. Engaging in sexual acts with goats is ok, if it is your goat and on your property. It is illegal to paint the balls on Tom Williams Bull. It is illegal and you will face criminal charges if your house burns down on Sunday. It is ok to beat your dog, if you prove that the reason called for it, it was actually your dog, and the stick was no shorter than 12 feet.

Yeah, I’m not the first to discover inaccuracies on Wikipedia. And these are patently absurd and only slightly amusing at best. My concern is for the casual user who hasn’t heard of Wiki complaints, and is liable to believe any fact that pops up on the screen — especially those more probable than Sheryl Crow coming to Haleyville.

I’m a big believer in the power of nobodies and of social networking, but when nobody is in charge, the results can be messy.

Maybe when the level of internet savvy hits critical mass, we’ll see less scamming and more responsible monitoring. But I doubt it, because nobodies draw power from both their numbers and their anonymity.