Domains and Authority

When researching online, clues about a website's reliability can be found in its URL. Different domains are available for different populations, and each can offer different information.

• .com - Commercial. Commercial domains can be purchased by anyone.
• .net - Network. Network domains can be purchased by anyone.
• .org - Organization. Though originally intended for non-profits, .org domains can now be purchased by anyone.
• .edu - Education. .edu domains are only available to educational institutions.
• .mil - U.S. military websites.
• .gov - U.S. Government websites.
• .co - Colombian or international commercial websites. .co domains are frequently used to confuse users looking for well-known .coms. 

 

Information obtained from .com, .net, and .org websites should be carefully scrutinized and verified before used. Try using the key questions to ask when analyzing media messages Links to an external site. when viewing information from these domains.