When I was 13 years old, I created a Facebook account with the simple goal of connecting with friends and posting horrific selfies. Since then, I have been on and off with my usage of the social networking site, and needless to say, a lot has changed since I first created my account. While on the app, I have found that most of my newsfeed consists of the “older” generation (family relatives, parents of old friends, neighbors, etc.) sharing or commenting, on what it seems like, every post that they see. I suppose this is fine, but problems arise once politics get involved.
We know that companies like Facebook and Twitter have been under fire recently about the authenticity of their content on news feeds. It is obviously a problem that there are fake accounts creating misleading stories, but I feel it is just as dangerous that there are so many people who are quick to read and share click-bait. Research has shown that Facebook is cracking down on the fake accounts, but I’m afraid that won’t stop the spread of fake news.
Our latest steps to make Pages more authentic and transparent https://t.co/fnNrMcOT5f
— Facebook (@facebook) August 10, 2018
Foreign or domestic, a clear way to determine if a post on Facebook is authentic is to confirm it with a more credible source. I believe Facebook should insert a special feature that allows the reader to immediately fact check an obscure article by taking you to links of more credible sources. The best way to help readers differentiate authentic from non-authentic news is to provide them the proper resources needed to make an educated decision to believe or disregard a post.
It is time for users to take back their news feeds.
Over half of Facebook users don't understand how the news feed actually works https://t.co/N5KgNbFLo8 pic.twitter.com/Su4ney3Mpk
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) September 5, 2018
Love the title!
I also agree with that the problem of inauthentic information on Facebook is made even worse by the fact that there are so many people who are quick to believe and share click-bait. I believe that more focus needs to be made on improving media literacy and I think that you’re idea of Facebook adding a special feature allowing users to immediately fact-check articles is very interesting although I’m not sure how feasible that would be given the magnitude of fake news out there.
I really enjoyed reading your article and thought your title was very clever. I agree with you that the best way to help readers differentiate authentic from non-authentic news is to help them understand the difference and provide them with resources to do so because many of them don’t know the difference and these people can be the ones to share and post fake news on Facebook.
I think that you captured the issue with a humorous tone which I thought was awesome. I also liked how your humor didn’t detract from the topic. You were speaking about the current reality of the platform and I thought it was great. I also liked the embedded link and thought that ht e tweets you added were appropriate. Be careful about using tweets from the company/platform being criticized because they might have a skewed opinion about the issue. Other than that I thought it was a great post overall.
I immediately was drawn into wanting to read your post because your title was engaging and creative. I thought the fact that you started out the blog post by making it somewhat personal to you, was a great way for the readers to be able to relate. The tweets you chose made your post strong and added more credibility to the thoughts you talked about like the inauthenticity information.
First off, the creativity of your title immediately drew me in and heightened my desire to read to your post–it is very clever! Secondly, I find your article to be very relatable and intelligent. I can agree with the fact that I first created a Facebook account for the same reasons as you, and I can agree that times have changed with the demographics of Facebook users. I found it interesting that you stated that you think that the creation of fake accounts is just as dangerous as the people who share fake news, as I never thought about it in that perspective, but I completely agree. This post got me thinking in a new way in regards to the danger levels of fake news and user engagement.
I found this article very interesting because you raised a few points I didn’t think of and you had a really good idea. The first thing I liked is that you recognized that the audience for Facebook is becoming older and that those people are very eager to click share. I’ve experienced this for myself, as I find the majority of my newsfeed these days is comprised of older people/adults sharing a lot of non-sense articles and posts. Sharing non-sense articles is harmless but you’re right, the sharing has gotten very political lately and it’s dangerous now because this group is now sharing things that may not be accurate and spreading these false ideas. I never really put those two things together. Also, I think your idea about Facebook integrating some sort of fact checking tool would be genius and really helpful to the whole Facebook community, as now everyone involved would instantly be able to see whether the thing they want to share is actually true, which would really make the whole Facebook platform a much safer, legitimate, and less detrimental place. I really like the way you thought of this and that you came up with a solution too!
Hey Austin,
your article was very easy to read. I liked your introduction to the topic. The posts you added to the text fit to the story. Maybe it would have been even better to show a concret example of a story that got factchecked. Still, I liked your personal style and how you descriped the whole evolution on Facebook.
Really great article Austin, I definitely agree with you as I got a Facebook account when I was around 13. Similarly, I never thought of its possibilities as a news outlet and only saw it as a place to connect with people I wasn’t able to see in person. This may be why we see so many problems on the site because it wasn’t originally geared to be a source of news and as it continues to evolve and become a media giant we need to see drastic changes like the ones you’ve mentioned. My only question would be if these changes were implemented would you as a user be willing to shoulder some of the additional costs on possibly a subscription basis if it meant the data and information provided were rigorously analyzed and verified.
Great post Austin! I feel like the majority of Facebook consumers our age have watched it change from the social platform that once housed our embarrassing youth to a news dominated platform. I also think your idea to integrate a way for readers/users to fact check within the app is an interesting one. I know they’re always trying to use human-moderators to fact-check at the moment, but maybe there’s an easier way than that? Thanks for sharing!