T HERE'S a saying that empty vessels make the most noise – and that's certainly true on the internet.

Ever since it became clear about the impact that the worldwide web could transform our lives, there have been those seeking to exploit a potential commercial opportunity.

Not only are they a new problem to deal with, they often drown out some of the best talents on the web.

Anyone who uses the internet or email even on the rarest occasion will be aware of spammers and self-proclaimed 'gurus'.

Spammers – dubbed after the Monty Python sketch in which every meal is served with the well-known meat product – carpet-bomb email, Facebook and Twitter accounts with links in a bid to capture sales.

You might think it's a waste of time and wonder why they do it. After all, you always send them straight to the recycle bin.

But given the cost of sending emails is so low, it's perhaps not that unsurprising to realise that a decent spam operation can turn a profit on just one response in a million.

Spam is bad. But then there are the 'gurus'.

The long-lost descendant of the snake oil salesman, these self-proclaimed experts flog products and services billed to raise the profile of individuals and companies – even though they often fail to live up to expectation.

First they targeted the market for so-called search engine optimisation.

Just to explain, for those who don't know, the search engines such as Google and Bing which help us to navigate our way through the 14 billion web pages are based on complex computer-based systems.

If you want to know when the shops open on the Trentham Garden estates on Sunday, you might type in the phrase "Trentham Gardens opening hours on Sunday".

The key to Google's success as the world's best search engine is ensuring that the most relevant pages appear first in its ranking.

To do this, Google uses an ever-changing algorithm to rank websites and decide which pages are the best to display for any given query.

The fact that around 80 per cent of all visitors click on just the top three results has generated a swarm of experts who claim they can promote websites to these key positions.

Of course, most of these claims are bunkum. Ultimately Google and other search engines are looking for web pages which meet what users want and will filter out anything where the material has been tweaked or 'gamed' to give it a better profile than it ought to have.

Similarly, there's a raft of self-proclaimed gurus who claim they can raise your profile on Twitter, Facebook or whatever social media site you care to mention.

The truth is that while there are good tips which can help you attract more people to your site, ultimately the ranking your site/profile achieves is down to the quality of the content – pictures, words, videos, whatever – you provide.

OF COURSE, there are people I consider to be high-ranking in North Staffordshire's digital community.

Among them is Carl Plant, a chap who grew up on the deprived estates of Bentilee and who has now worked on a series of projects designed to get people online as well as encouraging people on the web to contribute.

He's not one of the internet's most vocal talents, yet one of his brainchilds has reached its fifth birthday on Thursday this week.

bITjAM started out as an experiment to encourage artists across North Staffordshire to create and collaborate in digital music and visuals.

It has a regular venue at The Rigger in Newcastle and has brought together 200 individuals and groups in jam sessions which have been screened across Europe.

Carl, a qualified nurse, spent his youth learning to code by copying code from a mammoth-sized book and punching it into an Amstrad computer.

Now he combines his love of technology and caring for people in projects spanning working with IBM, Maverick TV – the company behind Embarrassing Bodies – and Warwick University.

He's also a Trustee of B arts, a group devoted to projects across North Staffordshire, and spends most of his spare time involved in projects to help groups and communities to get online.

At the same time, he's also developing his skills by using data within the NHS to provide useful information about health trends across the city.

He's just one of many prime examples of digital champions working across the region to get people connected and sharing information across Stoke-on-Trent.

Carl Plant may not have the loudest voice, but he's one of a growing group of digital champions who are helping to draw people online and shape Stoke-on-Trent's digital future.

David Elks is digital publisher of The Sentinel's website, www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk