Facebook is continually updating its Newsfeed algorithm and what users see, from testing auto-play ads to reducing clickbait. Now, the social media behemoth is at it again, this time giving pages that load faster higher priority in your feed and offering fact-checked articles when false news articles are posted. [More]
fake news
20th Century Fox Now Realizes Fake News Movie Promos Were A Terrible Idea
By 2.17.17
Fake news stories — online items that are outrageous but just plausible enough to make people hit “share” on Facebook — have been a hot and controversial topic since last year’s presidential election. A promotional campaign for a movie opening today used made-up news stories about attention-getters like the President and Lady Gaga, not realizing what a terrible idea this was. [More]
Network Of Fake News Sites Used To Promote Real Movie
By 2.14.17 — Updated: 2.17.17
On Friday, a psychological thriller called A Cure For Wellness will open in theaters. Lots of movies open every weekend, so why should you care about this one from 20th Century Fox? You may or may not be interested in seeing the film, but you should be aware of an unusual tactic that the movie used to promote itself: propagating fake news. [More]
Facebook’s “Trending Topics” Will Now Be The Same For Everyone Nearby, List Story’s Publisher
By 1.25.17
In an effort to deal with its unwieldy fake news problem, Facebook is tweaking its “Trending Topics” algorithm: instead of stories dynamically populating individual users’ feeds based on their interests, everyone in the same geographical area will see the same news items. [More]
Facebook To Work With Fact-Checkers, Let Users Flag Fake News Stories As “Disputed”
By 12.15.16
If you’re sick of seeing your friends from high school sharing outrageously untrue news items that are clearly hoaxes, or originally posted on websites with names like “HawtClikzNowAmerica!” or “biznoosclickstore.nz.bike,” you may soon have a new tool to help flag this sort of nonsense. [More]
It’s Impossible To Shut Off The Ads That Make Fake News Stories Profitable
By 12.9.16
Sometimes the stories are political; other times they’re too intriguing not to share, with tempting pieces of celebrity news. “That can’t possibly be true,” we say when seeing a headline that, say, Hillary Clinton and Yoko Ono have been lovers for years. You click, and advertisements load on the site, benefiting its creators… and the ad networks that profit. [More]
Study: Students “Easily Duped” By Fake News, Sponsored Content
By 11.22.16
You might assume that a child raised on online content may be better positioned to tell when news and information is coming from legitimate sources and when that source is a fake or an ad. However, the results of a new study appear to indicate that this always-connected generation is no better equipped to sort fact from fiction online. [More]
Google, Facebook To Fight Fake “News” Sites By Blocking Them From Ad Money
By 11.15.16
Google and Facebook are, hands down, the two most common ways for basically everyone to find information: either you’re searching for links on one, or browsing your news feed on the other. They’re also the two biggest advertising companies in the world, which gives them some leverage to feed or starve some content. And when it comes to totally bogus news, both are now going to take the “starve” approach. [More]
