Start your truth engines.

Exposing spin is fun, quick, and mind (life?)-altering. The first step is to install the Spinoculars™ toolbar on your Web browser. Spinoculars let you see, share, and edit spin wherever you go online, starting with these five initial news sites:

CNN.com
World, U.S., Politics, CNNMoney

FoxNews.com
World, Politics, U.S., Business

MSNBC.com
U.S., World, Politics, Business

NYTimes.com
World, U.S., Politics, Business

Yahoo! News
U.S., Elections, Politics, World, Business

Installing the Spinoculars toolbar takes less than a minute. Just go to our download page and follow the simple instructions.

Using Spinoculars

Once Spinoculars are installed, using them is easy. Here’s a quick overview of Spinoculars’ features.

From left to right:

The “S” Icon

The “S” icon (which we call the “SpinSpotter Bug”) doubles as an indicator light to alert you to when spin has been identified on the page.

Whenever there are Spin Markers on the page, the “S” icon will reverse colors so that the white “S” becomes red, and the red swoosh becomes white.

ON/OFF Button

Switch Spinoculars On and Off to show or hide Spin Markers on the page.

See Spin/See Edits

When “See Spin” is selected, the Spin Markers (i.e., the red highlights on the page) show the original text. When “See Edits” is selected, the Spin Markers show the text as edited by SpinSpotter users.

Spin Level

This slider gives you control over the Spin Rating of the Spin Markers that appear on your page. The highest setting of “5” will show only the highest-rated Spin Markers, while the lowest setting of “1” will show all Spin Markers. The effect is that the higher the Spin Level you set, the fewer Spin Markers you will see on your page.

Create Marker

This allows you to create your own Spin Marker wherever you see spin. Simply select the word or phrase you feel is spinning you, click on the Create Marker button, and you’re on your way!

Share Article

This allows you to share the article you are reading through popular services such as Digg, StumbleUpon, and others.

Email Article

This allows you to email the article to a friend.

Settings

This allows you to control the settings on your Spinoculars toolbar.

Spinoculars Help

This will give you information about your Spinoculars toolbar, and will provide a quick link to the Support/FAQ page on the SpinSpotter website.

Markers Found/Markers Shown

This indicator will tell you how many total Spin Markers have been created for the page you are reading, and how many of those Spin Markers are actually being shown based on the setting you’ve selected for your Spin Level (see above). To increase the number of Spin Markers showing on your page, simply decrease the Spin Level (“1” is the lowest setting, while “5” is the highest).

How to Open a Spin Marker

When you see a Spin Marker on your page as indicated by a red highlighted word or phrase, you can learn more about it by placing your mouse over the red highlighted text until the SpinSpotter Bug (i.e., the “S” icon) appears over the top-right corner of the highlighting.

Once the SpinSpotter Bug appears, just click on the Bug to open the Spin Marker Window. See below for instructions on how to use the Spin Marker Window.

Using the Spin Marker Window

Reading an Existing Spin Marker

To read an existing Spin Marker, follow the instructions above regarding “How to Open a Spin Marker”. Once the Spin Marker Window is open, you will see (a) the highlighted text from the article; (b) the top-rated Description of the spin, including the Rule of Spin being violated; and (c) the top-rated Edit to correct the spin (if one has been created). You will also have the option of reading all Descriptions submitted for that Spin Marker by selecting the “Descriptions” tab, or all Edits submitted for that Spin Marker by selecting the “Edits” tab. For each Description or Edit presented, you have the ability to rate Up or Down the respective Description or Edit, and your vote will help to determine which of the Descriptions or Edits presented will move to the top of the list and be the default Description of Edit displayed within the Spin Marker Window.

Across the bottom of the Spin Marker Window, you will see buttons to (a) Add your own Description, (b) Add your own Edit, (c) Email the Spin Marker to a friend, or (d) Share the Spin Marker using popular services such as Digg, StumbleUpon, etc. You also are invited to Rate the Spin by voting “High” or “Low”. Your vote will help to determine the overall Spin Rating for the marker, which will consequently influence how many SpinSpotter users will actually see that marker (based on their respective Spin Level settings–see details about Spin Level settings above).

One important note: Your votes in regards to Descriptions, Edits, and Spin Rating help to determine the Trust Rating of the person who created the marker, and your own Trust Rating as well. So vote often and judiciously!

Creating a New Spin Marker

To create a new Spin Marker, select the word or phrase in the article that you feel is spinning you, and click on the Create Marker button on the Spinoculars toolbar. If you are not yet logged in, you will first be asked to provide your Username and Password. You will then be asked to specify the Rule of Spin that’s being violated. A brief description of the rule will appear for each rule selected. For an overview of the Rules of Spin, go to the Rules of Spin page on the SpinSpotter website. After you have selected a Rule of Spin from the dropdown menu, click “Select Rule of Spin” at the bottom of the Spin Marker Window. You will next be asked to provide a brief description of the way in which the specific Rule of Spin is being violated. Once you have entered your description, press “Submit” at the bottom of the Spin Marker Window. If you’d like to add an Edit as well, simply select the Edit tab, or select “Add Edit” after the marker has been created. To exit the Spin Marker Window once you’ve finished, either click on the “Close Window” button on the top right, or simply click anywhere on the article itself.

Tips on Creating Good Spin Markers

What’s essential is for you to work within the Rules of Spin. These rules come from our own Journalism Advisory Board and the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics. To have the greatest influence on the SpinSpotter community, adhere to and never cross these Rules!

The cool benefit is that once you gain experience and hone your skills, you’ll actually drive the mathematical part of what SpinSpotter does. Your juicy intel will expose the spin, and the engine will gain another talent.

We think there’s a deep hunger for objective news writing. To a large and exciting degree, you have the ability to bring that back.