God no, Absolutely NOT. And if you do, well, that’s a serious problem.
Facebook has long argued that its news feed is a reflection of a user’s wider world. Over the summer, the company changed its news feed algorithm to deliver more posts from friends and family rather than articles. The company said Wednesday it would continue to tweak its news feed algorithm, but declined to address bogus journalism on its platform.
Recently, a former, and I emphasize former, Facebook friend shared another one of his blatantly false and anti-Obama news pieces. In the past, I have taken interest, if you will, in commenting and pointing out the inaccuracies, misrepresentations, falsity or outright lies of these items that he has shared.
I do my research and find web links that support my position and debunk the claims that are made in his posts. That results in a lively debate. I’m, in a sense, glad because the research that I do has improved my knowledge of current events and national issues. It was the driving factor for me to start this blog.
But a news piece that he shared the other day was the proverbial straw. It was a photo of Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. The headline beneath the photo claimed that she had just returned from Syria with proof that Obama had funded ISIS and Al-Qaeda.
Whoa. What?
First this:
- Of the 1.56 billion users of Facebook, about 54% access the platform exclusively via their mobile devices. Source: venturebeat.com. According to thenextweb.com, 90% access by a mobile phone at one time or another.
- Forty-four percent of Americans get their news from Facebook, according to the Pew Research Center, filling a void left by the declining ranks of newspapers. By comparison, only in 10 U.S. adults get news from print newspapers today.
- “While Facebook played a part in this election, it was just one of many ways people received their information — and was one of the many ways people connected with their leaders, engaged in the political process and shared their views,” a Facebook spokeswoman said. Source: theprovidencejournal.com.
- People’s attitudes and beliefs are influenced by what they see on FB. Mauricio Delgado, a professor of psychology at Rutgers University, says it’s simply part of our nature as human beings to trust what other human beings say. “Our brains are wired that way,” Delgado said.
- I can’t find any numbers on this, but I suspect that of the nearly one billion users with mobile phones, very few actually tap to link to the website of a news feed that one of their friends have shared. This is supported by Lisa Respers France, a CNN senior producer, “…stop sharing and posting fake news stories,” she implores. “Studies have shown that a lot of people don’t even read a lot of the links that they put up.”
A typical link would be comprised of:
- Usually but not always, an introduction/comment from the sharer.
- A photo of the person that the “news” is about or a video play icon.
- A headline or tagline of the article with a short lede.
So if a FB user never makes the link to the site to read the full article, the headline is THE ONLY piece of information they’ll assimilate or remember.
Back to Congresswoman Gabbard. The headline about Obama was a complete misrepresentation of the facts. It was clearly in the statement she issued about her visit to Syria. At no time did she provide any proof. The questions put to her made the accusations about Obama, and since she actually talked to Assad, the questions were loaded.
“I was asked, ‘Why is the United States and its allies helping al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups try to take over Syria? Syria did not attack the United States. Al-Qaeda did.’ I had no answer.”
If someone didn’t bother to go to the link (which by the way was joetheplumber.com) and read it, they wouldn’t have realized how specious the headline was.
When I pointed out in the comment section to my former friend that this was bogus, he responded, “It’s Facebook, so what.”
I responded, “It’s fake. Why are you sharing it?”
He came back with, “It’s Facebook. Grow up and get a life.”
Nice, make personal attacks as your argument. Pretty weak and empty. This is something his hero Donald Trump does all the time and on social media no less.
The “unfriend” icon was immediately clicked.
The sad and very scary thing about this is that this is the belief of Trump’s core supporters: lies, fake claims and personal attacks are OK.
Remember when Trump said,
“Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.”
That statement by any other candidate would have destroyed their campaign. But to Trump supporters, it was OK. (sad)