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We Tracked Down a Fake-News Creator in the Suburbs

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Re: We Tracked Down a Fake-News Creator in the Suburbs

#201

Post by makomk »

paulajohnson wrote: post #154
makomk wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I can tell, liberals aren't exactly skeptical - I've seen a huge amount of fakes spread virally on Twitter, even ones that are on Snopes and have Snopes links in the replies. They just don't seem to be willing to link to fake news websites, and without those links there's no way to turn a profit on the fakery.

Why would liberals be less "willing" to link to fake news? Nobody forwarding a link to one of these stories knows its fake (except the small minority being paid).

I honestly have no idea, but entirely unsourced claims, screenshots, claims that purport to be from other people on social media, and posts that link to genuine news articles which don't actually support the claim being made are all far more common. If I had to guess, dubious links somehow ended up with less credibility than no link at all.

Re: We Tracked Down a Fake-News Creator in the Suburbs

#202

Post by InclinedPlane »

caf wrote: post #5

The first "fake news" I remember seeing was about a year ago, and it was completely apolitical - it was a made-up story about a multiple-fatality car crash in my city. When I investigated the source, it had several exact copies of the same article, just set in different cities around the world. At the time I was completely bewildered as to the motive behind this, but I can only assume that it's the ad money, as paltr…

Traditional fake news, tabloids, was based on a different market, but it's the same premise: generating ad revenue. Eyes are dollars, if you can attract eyes then you can earn dollars, the only limits are your ethical boundaries and creativity. Yet another reason why ad supported media is an extremely problematic situation.

Re: We Tracked Down a Fake-News Creator in the Suburbs

#203

Post by ryuker16 »

philovivero wrote: post #196
ryuker16 wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought so too but on some issues like GMO, gun control, diamonds, etc. liberals believe fake news all the time. Breitbart came from a guy who learned the business working at Huffington post. Post an inaccurate article about evil Monsanto(and ignore its bigger gmo competitors) or the long dead debeers cartel(diamonds aren't pricy because of debeers). The load of horse shit on gun controls blows my mind.

Ding! "Left isn't fooled by fake news" makes me just shake my head in disbelief. You named three or four in what... two minutes? I'm glad you spent the 120 seconds of your life enumerating the ones that work over and over and over again. I wasn't even going to bother. Left/Right just have different triggers that shut their brains down and make them believe what they're told without any thought whatsoever.

I missed my thanksgiving flight

Re: We Tracked Down a Fake-News Creator in the Suburbs

#204

Post by ryuker16 »

jnbiche wrote: post #157
ryuker16 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's a techocracy.... unfortunately, many modern horrible regimes are techocracies since engineering/science majors are the norm outside the west. Communist governments were super big on STEM and still implemented the same horseshit policies and woo woo beliefs. >Most engineers also aren't inflicted with the lust for power and status like so many (most?) attorneys I know. In the west, engineering doesn't attract th…

> In the west, engineering doesn't attract those types. In other countries where its the quickest way to make buck? Hell yeah! This is an excellent counterpoint. You're totally right that in many countries (former communist countries, particularly, as you say), STEM educated elites often were the top officials. However, it doesn't detract from my point that in this country, we would benefit from more scientists and e…

I was thinking an advisory lobby like the AMA. Some respected organization that can issue statements others can point to as sane beliefs back by many in the industry.

Re: We Tracked Down a Fake-News Creator in the Suburbs

#205

Post by ryuker16 »

paganel wrote: post #150
ryuker16 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google beat them to it. Ad words is insane.... wanna target by individual town? Yes you can and more

Not sure about that. For the last week or so I've been bombarded with Porsche ads in the YT videos I'm listening even though I will never have that much money in order to buy a new Porsche vehicle.

You probably viewed some Porsche stuff or did a search.

Re: We Tracked Down a Fake-News Creator in the Suburbs

#206

Post by reitoei »

MaxfordAndSons wrote: post #194
slantyyz wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Overall, HN is pretty good because people here care a lot about facts. If, however, you don't think there are echo chambers here, you might want to look again. The parameters are just different here. The echo chambers here tend to be related to > surprise, surprise People might not care about your gender/religion here, but they do focus on other attributes. I've seen people marginalized or dismissed as not being "rea…

Don't forget the vicious anti-JS sentiments that get voted to the top in most threads about JS as a language (they seem to not bother stepping into the discussions about particular JS frameworks/projects, mercifully). Being a dev who mostly works with JS, and happens to enjoy it and think it's a fine language, makes me feel like a closeted Trump voter in HN land. But yea, aside from the tech-centric bubbles and biase…

> the intellectual climate here is pretty refreshing compared to Reddit, Twitter or FB

This is what I was trying to say in my original comment. I guess I got a bit too hyperbolic :)

Re: We Tracked Down a Fake-News Creator in the Suburbs

#207

Post by [deleted] »

MaxfordAndSons wrote: post #194
slantyyz wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Overall, HN is pretty good because people here care a lot about facts. If, however, you don't think there are echo chambers here, you might want to look again. The parameters are just different here. The echo chambers here tend to be related to > surprise, surprise People might not care about your gender/religion here, but they do focus on other attributes. I've seen people marginalized or dismissed as not being "rea…

Don't forget the vicious anti-JS sentiments that get voted to the top in most threads about JS as a language (they seem to not bother stepping into the discussions about particular JS frameworks/projects, mercifully). Being a dev who mostly works with JS, and happens to enjoy it and think it's a fine language, makes me feel like a closeted Trump voter in HN land. But yea, aside from the tech-centric bubbles and biase…

[deleted]

Re: We Tracked Down a Fake-News Creator in the Suburbs

#208

Post by analog31 »

Slothrop99 wrote: post #179
analog31 wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fascinating. I'm not sure I buy the left isn't just as gullible as the right. Or at least not without more proof? Not proof, but an interesting analogy: The relative success of right- and left-wing talk radio. Right wing talk radio is a huge industry, left-wing is practically nonexistent. Maybe it points to an asymmetry in how left- and right-wingers consume information. Granted, it could also be related to other fac…

I don't think that's correct. My mother is someone who watches left-wing biased news (MSNBC) all day, for example. And while I wouldn't call NPR specifically left-wing, they have a heavy establishment bias, and were running anti-Trump stuff continually through the election. Plus, there is a whole media establishment out there preaching to the far left (Democracy Now, "hippie" radio, etc.)

I'm thinking in terms of the magnitude of commercial success. As a counter-anecdote, I live in a liberal enclave -- Madison Wisconsin -- and there is a successful radio station with continuous right wing talk for several hours running. They have Limbaugh book-ended with other right wing shows, national and local. In contrast, attempts at finding a similar market for liberal talk have failed. One station that made a go of it in my locale just gave up and switched to a music format.

And the quality was just never there. While I have no use for Limbaugh, I respect that he delivers a quality product to his audience. In contrast, the liberal shows just seemed half-assed.

I'm pretty far to the left, but outrage propaganda turns me off. I also just don't react to the news in a tight feedback loop. I'm open minded, but being open minded means come back in a decade and see if my opinions have changed.

Re: We Tracked Down a Fake-News Creator in the Suburbs

#209

Post by tormeh »

dmichulke wrote: post #85
JonnieCache wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not talking about wars - I'm talking about the holocaust and the deaths from internal repression in the soviet union and maoist china. One of the preconditions for such things to take place is the corruption of truth in the public discourse. I'm sorry if this seems like exaggeration or scaremongering but I find these stories terrifying far beyond the election of donald trump. >the governments regularly shouted "f…

I think it all three cases one problem was the lack of news. News agencies were shut down unless they "cooperated". Therefore having a wide spectrum of media is IMO desirable, even if it means fake news. The problem starts when the state regulates the media because that's when having only one (government friendly) source of information starts. Finally, I think, the problem is not the liars but the acting believers. I…

>Finally, I think, the problem is not the liars but the acting believers. If you fall for such a lie, fine you are entitled to think whatever you want. However, if you act on it (by threatening or committing violence), then you become a criminal. But that part is already covered by current legislation.

It doesn't matter who the problem is, it only matters how to solve it. Claiming the mainstream media is lying ("lying press"/"Lügenpresse") and sowing distrust in traditional sources of truth was one of the tactics that helped Hitler rise to power. I don't know how to prevent this tactic, but the current approach of letting people just blatantly make shit up and push it as truth isn't working very well. It's very possible that it's the least bad approach, but we should at least consider the alternatives before concluding.

Re: We Tracked Down a Fake-News Creator in the Suburbs

#210

Post by Chathamization »

A_COMPUTER wrote: post #189

He is doing the same thing to NPR, and by extension NPR's listeners, what he was doing to low-info right-wingers: telling them what they wanted to hear, whether or not it's true. He's good at it. He wants you to believe that he tried, but he just couldn't get the left wing to fall for it. But anybody who has used Facebook as seen how popular AddictingInfo-org is, and it is an overtly left wing fake news site. It's no…

My guess is that part of the focus on fake news is a bit of deflection. The media hyperfocused on the Comey story in the week leading up to the election, and in the end that turned out to be nothing at all. Instead of looking at the issues in their own reporting, they're spending all the time talking about fake news (which is still an issue, however).
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