I Knew There Was Good Reason Not to Use Twitter

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_moksha
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Re: I Knew There Was Good Reason Not to Use Twitter

Post by _moksha »

Our willingness to buy into the false and tawdry is what led to the Trump presidency.
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_Gadianton
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Re: I Knew There Was Good Reason Not to Use Twitter

Post by _Gadianton »

Do they really believe the fake news? I bet they don't. If the "real news" controls were not necessarily liberal friendly, then are we really going to believe that they exactly misidentify fake news as real and real as fake? It seems they are agnostic about truth content and just pick out what's likely to be shocking and popular.
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_MeDotOrg
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Re: I Knew There Was Good Reason Not to Use Twitter

Post by _MeDotOrg »

Fence Sitter wrote:I saw this story on my local TV newscast the other day and my first thought was:

"Wait, people actually consider Twitter a "news" source?"

God, no wonder Trumpy got elected.

I'm with you on this. It was a real eye-opener for me last fall when I discovered how many got their news off Facebook. I would love for some people to come up with common sense tactics for information checking, but we are increasingly a society that settles for what 'feels' true, rather than truth.

Sometimes it gets tough. Years ago, a parody of the National Enquirer was published, called the Irrational Enquirer. The lead story was

Mother gives birth to self

...but I always wondered how many people knew it was a parody.
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_Some Schmo
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Re: I Knew There Was Good Reason Not to Use Twitter

Post by _Some Schmo »

MeDotOrg wrote:I would love for some people to come up with common sense tactics for information checking, but we are increasingly a society that settles for what 'feels' true, rather than truth.

I think humanity has always had this problem, but as religious adherence has declined, people prone to fanciful thinking have had to find other outlets for their crazy theories. It seems to me most of the religious fervor in this country these days is political, not spiritual.
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_Xenophon
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Re: I Knew There Was Good Reason Not to Use Twitter

Post by _Xenophon »

Gadianton wrote:Do they really believe the fake news? I bet they don't. If the "real news" controls were not necessarily liberal friendly, then are we really going to believe that they exactly misidentify fake news as real and real as fake? It seems they are agnostic about truth content and just pick out what's likely to be shocking and popular.

I don't know Gad, I've had plenty of people (family mostly) who have shared these kinds of stories in a very sincere manner. There was a whole Birther movement. The desire for news that confirms one's world view can be pretty strong. Couple that with a President who regularly dismisses legitimate reporting as fake and I think you are left with a scenario where many people actually struggle to sort fact from fiction.

It isn't just on the right either. The left has long flirted with fake news that confirms their beliefs; think anti-vax, homeopathy, and a lot of the Occupy movement. Now these ideas are way less mainstream within the wing of the party, but the formula is still mostly the same.
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_Always Changing
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Re: I Knew There Was Good Reason Not to Use Twitter

Post by _Always Changing »

Xenophon wrote:I don't know Gad, I've had plenty of people (family mostly) who have shared these kinds of stories in a very sincere manner. There was a whole Birther movement. The desire for news that confirms one's world view can be pretty strong. Couple that with a President who regularly dismisses legitimate reporting as fake and I think you are left with a scenario where many people actually struggle to sort fact from fiction.

It isn't just on the right either. The left has long flirted with fake news that confirms their beliefs; think anti-vax, homeopathy, and a lot of the Occupy movement. Now these ideas are way less mainstream within the wing of the party, but the formula is still mostly the same.
There are libertarians on both sides of the left-right continuum. I don't subscribe to one-dimensional thinking. My ex described me as politically liberal, but remarkably devoted to canning, sewing, gardening, ecological issues, conservative with family financial resources, and rejecting materialism. He couldn't wrap his head around that. :rolleyes:
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