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People older than 65 share the most fake news, a new study finds

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Re: People older than 65 share the most fake news, a new study finds

#111

Post by cheez »

dandare wrote: post #110

Anecdotal evidence: I remember how my 65 years old dad changed from a large-minded, world-traveling retired professor to an avid consumer of fake news in the span of fewer than two years. Yes, it was a shock, but most of all I am mortified that this could happen to me as well when I get to his age.

I used to read the national enquirer (UFOs, Bigfoot!) religiously as a kid. I suspect there is something that appeals to people at certain stages in life. Most likely, as you get older/younger you desire stimulation. In mid-life, you're probably over-stimulated.

Re: People older than 65 share the most fake news, a new study finds

#112

Post by drewmol »

For a lot of those 65+ they remember when an article that claimed: 'If you * then share this with 10 of your friends' would have cost them 10 quarters and taken several days of effort to comply.

They know the free postage won't last forever, so they'll use it while it lasts.

Re: People older than 65 share the most fake news, a new study finds

#113

Post by dev_dull »

dandare wrote: post #110

Anecdotal evidence: I remember how my 65 years old dad changed from a large-minded, world-traveling retired professor to an avid consumer of fake news in the span of fewer than two years. Yes, it was a shock, but most of all I am mortified that this could happen to me as well when I get to his age.

Stay unplugged from social media and especially mainstream media and you’ll be just fine.

Re: People older than 65 share the most fake news, a new study finds

#114

Post by davidkellis »

magduf wrote: post #63
seattle_spring wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the younger generation has some sophistication about domain names (which are essentially their news sources) in general. Is that really true though? A lot of the younger folks on my Facebook share stuff from things like "natural-truth-health.net" or "gmo-truth-toxic.tk" or "naturalnews.com".

Yeah, the "natural health" thing is an actual religion these days, and lots of younger people buy into it.

Politics is religion nowadays as well.

Re: People older than 65 share the most fake news, a new study finds

#115

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

ben_w wrote: post #55
maldusiecle wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't need knowledge of evo-psych or "memetics" (whatever that means) to distinguish most sketchy sites from reputable ones. It may be tricky to distinguish more carefully-assembled fake news sites, but most of these bogus websites/Facebook groups are easy to pick out via stylistic cues alone.

I think it’s unwise to rely on the incompetence of fake news websites. Compare two UK newspapers, The Guardian and The Daily Mail. They are both well-known and have popular domains which have been around for ages. Considering only their contradictions on the topic of Brexit, one of them must be about as dangerously out of touch with reality as it is possible to be. Which one? I know which one I believe, but I am not…

The Guardian are known for some excellent investigative journalism bad sadly even they can't seem to resist the temptation to put up a poorly researched opinion piece / rant or two occasionally to pander to their left-wing readership. That said, the Daily Mail is a gutter tabloid and among the worst of the worst.

I'd lean more towards the Guardian but I don't think I'd trust either outright.

Re: People older than 65 share the most fake news, a new study finds

#116

Post by dandare »

btbuildem wrote: post #40

Having spent Christmas back home, I've come to the conclusion that people over 65 should not have the right to vote. You've had almost forty years of voting, you don't really have any future left, and your minds aren't what they used to be. Please stay out of it.

The reason why democracy works is not that it generates the best decisions, it works because it makes the least amount of people unhappy.

Re: People older than 65 share the most fake news, a new study finds

#117

Post by choochooboogalu »

dev_dull wrote: post #113
dandare wrote: post #110

Anecdotal evidence: I remember how my 65 years old dad changed from a large-minded, world-traveling retired professor to an avid consumer of fake news in the span of fewer than two years. Yes, it was a shock, but most of all I am mortified that this could happen to me as well when I get to his age.

Stay unplugged from social media and especially mainstream media and you’ll be just fine.

Gather all information from primary sources?

Sarcasm aside, I do agree that journals and other longer period periodicals are more reliable.

Re: People older than 65 share the most fake news, a new study finds

#118

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

dazc wrote: post #44
btbuildem wrote: post #40

Having spent Christmas back home, I've come to the conclusion that people over 65 should not have the right to vote. You've had almost forty years of voting, you don't really have any future left, and your minds aren't what they used to be. Please stay out of it.

So, what you're saying is, people who have 40 years more experience of life than you have, people who've paid taxes for most of those years, people who sacrificed a better lifestyle so they could change your nappies, etc shouldn't vote because their political opinions don't chime with yours? You don't know it yet but a lot of what you think you know stems from fake news too.

Ah, the old "we changed your nappies so we know better than you" argument.

Re: People older than 65 share the most fake news, a new study finds

#119

Post by whatshisface »

choochooboogalu wrote: post #117
dev_dull wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stay unplugged from social media and especially mainstream media and you’ll be just fine.

Gather all information from primary sources? Sarcasm aside, I do agree that journals and other longer period periodicals are more reliable.

In the age of the internet, that doesn't have to be as sarcastic as you think it might.

Re: People older than 65 share the most fake news, a new study finds

#120

Post by dandare »

dev_dull wrote: post #113
dandare wrote: post #110

Anecdotal evidence: I remember how my 65 years old dad changed from a large-minded, world-traveling retired professor to an avid consumer of fake news in the span of fewer than two years. Yes, it was a shock, but most of all I am mortified that this could happen to me as well when I get to his age.

Stay unplugged from social media and especially mainstream media and you’ll be just fine.

You mean "Don't trust mainstream media, watch this shocking video instead"?
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