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Facebook Has Repeatedly Trended Fake News

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Melody Bot, Oct 13, 2016.

  1. Melody Bot

    Your friendly little forum bot. Staff Member

    This article has been imported from chorus.fm for discussion. All of the forum rules still apply.

    The Washington Post tracked Facebook’s “Trending Topics” section for three weeks. They found a bunch of fake and inaccurate stories.


    Our results shouldn’t be taken as conclusive: Since Facebook personalizes its trends to each user, and we tracked results only during work hours, there’s no guarantee that we caught every hoax. But the observation that Facebook periodically trends fake news still stands — if anything, we’ve underestimated how often it occurs.

    Maybe it’s time to re-think this whole thing, yeah?

     
  2. beachdude

    I'm not brave Prestigious

    I'm *SHOCKED*

    I'm not actually shocked
     
    Mr. Serotonin likes this.
  3. Mr. Serotonin

    I'm still staring down the sun Prestigious

    There's nothing I hate more than seeing friends/family re-sharing fake news stories. It's hard to even blame them because there's so much you have to wade through, and investigating that you have to do...although you should investigate.
     
  4. Ryan

    Might be Spider-Man...

    Not shocked at all, "social media" is such a bastardization of a thing.
     
  5. amorningofsleep Oct 13, 2016
    (Last edited: Oct 14, 2016)
    amorningofsleep

    No-rope barbed wire Jones

    Do people even pay attention to their trending topics anymore?
     
    PandaBear! likes this.
  6. aoftbsten

    Trusted Supporter

    I feel like a read about this same problem a couple of months back, guess it still hasn't been fixed. Things rarely turn out well for Facebook when they try to copy other social networks.
     
  7. FrankieThe4th

    things have never been stranger Prestigious

    Facebook should own up to their mistake and re-hire the human editors who had previously been curating this content. The company can afford it, and the good will it would buy them makes it a win-win.
     
  8. Zilla

    Trusted Supporter

    Why wouldn't they?
     
  9. Gnarly Charlie

    Good guy, but a bad dude

    I despise how easy it has made it for people who want to share conspiracy theories and tabloid garbage like conservativetribune.
     
    Mr. Serotonin likes this.
  10. Gnarly Charlie

    Good guy, but a bad dude


    Trump is a sensation in and of himself. I'm not saying she's sunshine and daisies and she has indulged in some shady shit but that reads like an InfoWars post.
     
  11. muttley Oct 13, 2016
    (Last edited: Oct 13, 2016)
    muttley

    "Fuck you, Peaches!" Prestigious

    There was something earlier this month that said "our carbon levels have reached the point of no return" or some shit like that. It said hundreds of thousands of people were "talking about it" even though the websites weren't credible at all. The whole thing disappeared within the hour.
     
  12. kpatrickwood

    Give what you can.

    If I can't trust the news blips next to my aunt's pictures of how her new quilt is coming along, what the fuck can I trust?
     
  13. xapplexpiex

    sup? Supporter

    The trending part of FB used to be legit until the change they made to it
     
  14. stuckinvhs

    Social Justice Wizard Prestigious

    Facebook is just a target for ad revenue and it reeks of desperation. "Here's a list of shit, number 9 will shock you!" Or "this person did something, you won't believe what they did next!". If you find yourself that bored you'll click on it and see a Web page that's 70% ads. It's just a mindless abyss and an aggressive tumor on facebook and a pretty much any social media thing.
     
    Mr. Serotonin likes this.
  15. aranea

    Trusted Prestigious

    Fakebook


    How come I was the first to post that