As FactCheck.org explains, fake news has become more pervasive than ever before. What was once limited to an occasionally annoying chain email now has the potential to be shared across social media and other platforms under the guise of seemingly legitimate reporting.
In an effort to help readers decipher between what is fact and fiction, Snopes published a list of well-known “fake news” purveyors, including names like News Examiner and Empire News. FactCheck.org also cautions about the names of these websites. The article stated that the creators of these sites will mirror their domains after trusted news organizations. An example of this is how closely abcnews.com.co, a URL meant to mimic ABC News, resembles the actual URL for the outlet (abcnews.go.com).
However, there are other clues readers can look for when reviewing the legitimacy of an article. Look to see authored the piece. If you cannot find a link to any other work he/she has done, the name may be fake. I’ve linked to my work both as an example and a bit of shameless self promotion.
Another aspect to look out for is the date of the piece. Occasionally, these fake news outlets will take an old story and re-brand it to be connected with current-day events. This can be solved by Googling the news item to see if it has been debunked/proven or what other outlets are saying about it.
However, none of this changes the fact that potentially false information is often finding its way into our social media feeds. According to an NPR podcast with guest Craig Silverman, an editor at Buzzfeed, Facebook’s algorithm for content is, whatever is receiving the most engagement will be promoted to others.
Silverman goes on to explain that teenagers and 20-somethings in Veles, Macedonia took advantage of this fact. They saw, for example, that pro-Trump and anti-Clinton material was popular on the platform during the 2016 Election. They would post content reflecting those biases into Trump support groups. In addition, many of these posts were multimedia: video, pictures, memes and text-based articles as well.
Silverman said that the multimedia aspect of these messages was one of the driving forces behind their popularity. People could see a meme, for example, and quickly identify that it was inline with their beliefs. From there, the “share button” feeds the algorithm for popularity.
The clicks a piece of content receives, that directs the audience back to a website, and Google’s role in all of this is possibly the biggest factor in the whole puzzle. If the website has ads placed on it by Google (AdSense), then traffic to that website can be a major revenue generator. Just ask the man who built a fake news domain once worth more than $100,000.
Though Facebook has said it is improving its flagging system and algorithm to recognize misinformation, there is a high possibility that information which merely expresses an opposing opinion will be suppressed. Therefore, the responsibility rests with the audience to research and inform itself. That may be easier said than done but it is necessary to becoming an informed news consumer.
Julie's Corner 