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Hyperpartisan Facebook Pages Are Publishing False and Misleading Information

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Melody Bot, Oct 21, 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.

    BuzzFeed News:


    However, during the time period analyzed, we found that right-wing pages were more prone to sharing false or misleading information than left-wing pages. Mainstream pages did not share any completely false information, but did publish a small number of posts that included unverified claims. (More on that below.)

    We rated 86 out of a total 666 right-wing Facebook posts as mostly false, for a percentage of 13%. Another 167 posts (25%) were rated as a mixture of true and false. Viewed separately or together (38%), this is an alarmingly high percentage.

    Left-wing pages did not earn as many “mostly false” or “mixture of true and false” ratings, but they did share false and misleading content. We identified 22 mostly false posts out of a total of 471 from these pages, which means that just under 5% of left-wing posts were untrue. We rated close to 14% of these posts (68) a mixture of true and false. Taken together, nearly a fifth of all left-wing posts we analyzed were either partially or mostly false.

    Facebook, what are you doing? This is where a shocking number of people get their “news” and at this rate a huge part of it is literal bullshit.

     
    Mr. Serotonin likes this.
  2. amorningofsleep

    No-rope barbed wire Jones

    Misleading news on Facebook? I'm speechless!!!! Like this status if you agree.
     
    Davjs likes this.
  3. MrCon

    I was trying to describe myself to someone

    The inaccurate news is not literal bullshit. This post is a mixture of true and false.
     
    RiseAgainst379 likes this.
  4. blacktaxi2d

    Newbie

    yeah, facebook should really look at this. im gonna need them to start censoring things that they deem "false" and promote things that they deem "true".
     
  5. Brenden

    Trusted Prestigious

    They are basically going to have to ban memes. That's where most people get their misinformation. No one reads articles anymore.
     
  6. jellyfishfossil

    Regular

    "Facebook, please erase everything that I don't like instead of letting people choose what to believe."

    Go to China. That's where this idea of censorship belongs.
     
  7. polyfilla

    who can never be sure

    666 right-wing Facebook posts

    [​IMG]
     
  8. Chaplain Tappman

    Trusted Prestigious

    [​IMG]
     
    FTank, Mr. Serotonin and Jason Tate like this.
  9. yeahrightdude

    Trusted Prestigious

    lol imagine being this thick-skulled.
     
    ChaseTx, FTank and Jason Tate like this.
  10. SayHello

    Regular

    This is an absolute disaster for so many insidious reasons. Facebook needs to fix this as quickly as possible.
     
  11. theredline

    Trusted Supporter

    I know lots of people get news from Facebook but there are so many better ways. If you want reputable news you can get it from much better sources.
     
    jellyfishfossil likes this.
  12. Mr. Serotonin

    I'm still staring down the sun Prestigious

    I don't think people necessarily seek it out on Facebook. It's just there in your face, and super convenient when you log on every day.
     
    ChaseTx and Fucking Dustin like this.
  13. Fucking Dustin

    Please click "like" Supporter

    I would love this so much
     
    Brenden and Mr. Serotonin like this.
  14. jellyfishfossil

    Regular


    What benefits come from facebook blocking posts that you don't want people to see just because they are not correct? The post don't offend anyone, they are not stomping on beliefs, they are not physically harming people. Both right-wingers and left-wingers post incorrect things on facebook in order to push their agenda and yet the billions of people on facbeook still go to work, sleep peacefully, and actually have lives that don't revolve around stressing over small things like this.

    Does your ego grow and you feel warm because people may not grow different opinions that you do not value? Do you desire everyone to think just like you? Are you afraid of people being gullible and believing something that you don't put your stamp of approval on? Grow up and stop trying to dictate what everyone else can choose.
     
    blacktaxi2d likes this.
  15. jellyfishfossil

    Regular

    Why do you have a problem with people sharing memes and why do you want to take away the ability of people being able to post memes? What physical harm have they caused you?
     
  16. Fucking Dustin

    Please click "like" Supporter

    I don't care what people's opinions are as long as they're not harming others, but being like "I want to be factually wrong" is a weird stance to take
     
    ChaseTx and supernovagirl like this.
  17. Mr. Serotonin

    I'm still staring down the sun Prestigious

    It'd be cool if people used factual information to "push their agendas" though...
     
    ChaseTx and supernovagirl like this.
  18. Fucking Dustin

    Please click "like" Supporter

    I'm sorry that my stance of "I don't enjoy seeing memes all the time" translated to "I am spearheading an effort to ban memes from the internet".

    I'm very okay with memes being posted at this moment. I just also wouldn't mind if they weren't.
     
    FTank likes this.
  19. jellyfishfossil

    Regular

    This. Getting worked up over things posted on facebook that literally do nothing except change the minds of insanely gullible people is wack.
     
    theredline likes this.
  20. yeahrightdude

    Trusted Prestigious

    oh you were serious :crylaugh:
     
    ChaseTx and FTank like this.
  21. jellyfishfossil

    Regular

    It doesn't matter to me how they do it. I don't see why it matters to anyone else. What people believe is their business. If people are gullible enough to fall for memes then they are not threats anyway.
     
  22. jellyfishfossil

    Regular

    "Let me just pretend this was all a joke so I can just laugh it off."

    Wanting to censor people just because you're upset over memes is not a joke. It's the highest level of pettiness.
     
  23. jellyfishfossil

    Regular

    Okay, I understand that and memes do get pretty obnoxious. I usually unfollow people once they post a lot of annoying memes. I just thought you were in favor of facebook making it a policy from how I read your comment.
     
  24. yeahrightdude

    Trusted Prestigious

    I'm not upset over memes. Wtf are you talking about? I'm laughing at you because you think the idea of fact checking articles is on the same level as government censorship. I'm writing half ass responses because I don't have time to explain ethics in journalism to you.
     
  25. stuckinvhs

    Social Justice Wizard Prestigious

    Yeah sorry I'm not trusting buzzfeed at all when it comes to news.