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Facebook Stops Using “Fake News” Flags Since They Made Users Want to Click Even More.
When you hear the term “fake news,” it’s usually Donald Trump mocking the hopelessly biased DC press corps. But the term started as the reverse. Shell-shocked by the 2016 presidential election, journalists were desperate for scapegoats and landed on sleazy Eastern European spammers pushing dubious articles on social media. After all, it couldn’t be that Hillary Clinton was the worst major party nominee to ever run for the White House.
As the panic grew, Facebook added “Disputed Flags” — red icons next to suspect news articles. But recent research has shown that users were more likely to click on flagged posts. As Facebook’s Tessa Lyons put it, “academic research on correcting misinformation has shown that putting a strong image, like a red flag, next to an article may actually entrench deeply held beliefs – the opposite effect to what we intended.”
Facebook is now dropping the flags and instead adding “Related Articles” to correct any alleged misinformation being shared. This too will most likely backfire, as I’m confident any conservative-leaning item from National Review or the Washington Free Beacon will be countered by pieces from The Nation and Mother Jones. I don’t expect to see the reverse.
Instead of policing the millions of posts shared across their platforms, perhaps Facebook and Twitter would be better off adding “Caveat Lector” to the top of their websites — “Let the reader beware.”
Published in General
That’s because The Nation and Mother Jones tell the truth.
Sheesh.
Bullfighter wisdom
Subtle reference to the non-conservative-leaning items in those outlets…
I had a good laugh.
Ditch Facebook and go back to Myspace. They’re still around, and they have incentive to hurt Facebook for knocking them into the gutter.
Don’t make Zuckerberg even richer . . .
Or, as Mika Brzezinski would say, “We’ll tell you what to think.”
Any article that is based upon an anonymous source or sources is one that although well written I immediately view with skepticism. Hearsay is not evidence of an action that was taken, or evidence of an action that was contemplated. You cannot be sure the source actually exists, if the source does exist you cannot be sure if the source is giving a reporter the full story, and you cannot be sure that the reporter is presenting the entire story as it was told to them.
Maybe instead of a flag they should try a Trump Poop Icon. Something subtle like that.