Yet there are many differences between the folk spreading information online and the folks you encounter in the pub: the former will often posture themselves as an authority, while the latter you may know well enough to trust or distrust their authority on a particular topic. When people seek authority online, they are typically seeking someone who they agree with. While authority may be found in a pub, it is not really a place where one seeks it.

All of this makes educating people in venues like Twitter (and some of these exist outside of the online world) a very difficult prospect.