always check your sources
This NPR article is terrifying on so many levels
We Tracked Down a Fake News Creator in the Suburbs. Here's What We Learned.
The whole "fake news" debate has really pulled me in. At first, I was concerned that people were just calling anything partisan "fake news" but then I read this and these people are writing out of malice. This guy is a liberal, a registered Democrat, and he think it is "fun" to feed people misinformation and propaganda.
Oh, and he may or may not be making at least $30,000 a MONTH on it.
Reading this, I realized it is not the fake news sites that we need to be targeting. We need to target their source of revenue. We need to find out what companies advertise on fake news sites and boycott them. Shame them away from supporting these sites that are just lies.
When it comes down to it though, it is all in the hands of the consumer. We tell people to lock their house before leaving to discourage theft. We tell people to install anti-virus programs on their computer. We research our electronics purchases and check all the reviews before buying a TV. It is our responsibility to check our news sources before we share them or take them as truth.
But how can we do that when the fake news creators are actively trying to make this difficult? Buying URLs that sound like small town newspapers because they want to fool readers? Or, as the creator points out, when people "want" to read the lies, they want to believe the lies, so why would they bother to check? The fake news article about people using food stamps to buy pot in Colorado - people want to believe the worst about the poor so do they bother to find out if this is true?
But I don't think Facebook should try to block sites only because I know people will start trying to block legitimate sites they don't agree with. Like when Facebook went to the real name only policy and all of the transgender people and drag queens were virtually attacked for not using their "given" names. Plenty of news sites twist the facts, mold them to fit their agenda - is that real news or fake news?
Deep thoughts for a Sunday morning, I know. But this whole thing has been bothering me. I don't think it swayed the election, I think most people had made their decisions long before polling day. But it might sway the next one.
Thoughts? More articles? Tell me!
We Tracked Down a Fake News Creator in the Suburbs. Here's What We Learned.
The whole "fake news" debate has really pulled me in. At first, I was concerned that people were just calling anything partisan "fake news" but then I read this and these people are writing out of malice. This guy is a liberal, a registered Democrat, and he think it is "fun" to feed people misinformation and propaganda.
Oh, and he may or may not be making at least $30,000 a MONTH on it.
Reading this, I realized it is not the fake news sites that we need to be targeting. We need to target their source of revenue. We need to find out what companies advertise on fake news sites and boycott them. Shame them away from supporting these sites that are just lies.
When it comes down to it though, it is all in the hands of the consumer. We tell people to lock their house before leaving to discourage theft. We tell people to install anti-virus programs on their computer. We research our electronics purchases and check all the reviews before buying a TV. It is our responsibility to check our news sources before we share them or take them as truth.
But how can we do that when the fake news creators are actively trying to make this difficult? Buying URLs that sound like small town newspapers because they want to fool readers? Or, as the creator points out, when people "want" to read the lies, they want to believe the lies, so why would they bother to check? The fake news article about people using food stamps to buy pot in Colorado - people want to believe the worst about the poor so do they bother to find out if this is true?
But I don't think Facebook should try to block sites only because I know people will start trying to block legitimate sites they don't agree with. Like when Facebook went to the real name only policy and all of the transgender people and drag queens were virtually attacked for not using their "given" names. Plenty of news sites twist the facts, mold them to fit their agenda - is that real news or fake news?
Deep thoughts for a Sunday morning, I know. But this whole thing has been bothering me. I don't think it swayed the election, I think most people had made their decisions long before polling day. But it might sway the next one.
Thoughts? More articles? Tell me!