A fascinating post by Nicholas Rossis on the origins of Fake News, and what the big social media sites are putting in place. But you might be interested as I was at the age group responsible for not just believing the fake news but passing it along.. Do follow the link to read the whole article.. very informative.. thanks Sally.
If you haven’t heard the term “fake news” yet, please come out from under that rock and join the rest of us. As for the rest, you will no doubt be aware that fake news has been linked to extremist politics, social division, mob violence, and crime.
As writers, we know the power of words. That’s why I’m sharing some interesting news on fake news and the moves against it, courtesy of Mike Elgan and Computer World.
Who’s to blame?
Old people. No, seriously. A new study found that Facebook users over the age of 65 are far more likely to share fake news than younger users. The reasons for this include a lack of digital media literacy by people who didn’t grow up with the internet and age-related cognitive decline.
China’s WeChat found similar results on that network and also concluded that country folk are more likely to share fake news than city slickers.
Where does fake news come from?
Please head over to Nicholas’s blog to read the rest of the post.
A single anonymous source at The New York Times informed me that fake news is no big deal. No one else has been able to confirm this, though. 🙂
A new study…… hmmmmm.
Other than suggesting any story that contains the words, “A new study” is fake news, let me guess, the student interns who scored what constitutes fake news were mostly young people who get their news from HuffPo, Buzzfeed, Salon and Slate. It would be interesting to hear how the study controlled for generational bias. 🙂 🙂
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Some interesting points and I hope that you have commented on the original article. thanks Sally
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Big subject in schools, too. It used to be if it was in print, you could trust it. Those days are gone!
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Very true Jacqui. xxx
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Thank you Sally! Yes, we have to think different, since we get more news information we ever got before.A new era for psychological warfare too POTUS makes it as an “One-Man-Show”. LoL Michael.
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