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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

#211

Post by mbostleman »

nabla9 wrote: post #206
mbostleman wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>Fox News is the only major mainstream media source that has completely turned news into dishonest influencing operation.>> To me, it's ideas like this that perpetuate the problem. It clings to the idea that journalists and journalism - at least that which is sold via mainstream media channels - are capable of some kind of pristine objectivity. They aren't. It is much healthier in my opinion to understand that news…

You fail to see the main point of my comment. > are capable of some kind of pristine objectivity. My point was that media bias is not same as not being untruthful. Fox News stands alone in the mainstream media in their network level intentionally false reporting.

How do you know their "intentions" much less those of their peers?

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

#212

Post by Florin_Andrei »

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.

Yes, completely isolate yourself. It'll do you good.

/s

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

#213

Post by Florin_Andrei »

abakker wrote: post #163
sillyquiet wrote: post #31

Like other commenters, this study jives with my experience with older relatives. I mean 'forwards from grandma' has been a thing forever, right? 'Bill Gates will give a nickel every time this is read' (remember email chains?), 'naked women get shared, but this heroic child won't get a single like', 'Like and Share if you stand with politician X', etc etc. Combine this with the targeted scamming of elderly from variou…

Exactly right, except one of my grandmas only sends me articles from Snopes. It's kind of like reverse fake news. The only online contact I get from her is articles debunking fake news, but, never any actual real news.

I would say she's fine then.

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

#214

Post by octernion »

asabjorn wrote: post #200
octernion wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

lmao i love anti social justice warriors. bless your tiny, ice-cold hearts and backwards ways.

Most of us are proponents of a secular state clearly separated from religious practices, and social justice believers are religious [1] with the extra flair that they seek institutional power to enforce their beliefs in ways that violate this principle. Do you believe we should not have a secular state where people can inhabit all sorts of conflicting beliefs in the religious spehere, while resolving their grievances…

i will say that the mental gymnastics necessary to make "being nice" and "not being a shitty racist or misogynist" a "religion", so that you can say "i'm a proponent of a secular state" is just really impressive so congrats on that. really neat stuff.

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

#215

Post by tropo »

jameslk wrote: post #165

Here's the study since the article didn't link directly to it: http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/1/eaau4586

Wow, that's bad.

The definition of "fake news" is a list of 21 conservative web sites chosen by BuzzFeed. For some reason, BuzzFeed wasn't in that list.

Unsurprisingly, by that definition, fake news is primarily spread by conservatives! Chart C shows that as the strongest result by far. Chart B, going by age, is a weaker result. Well yes, it seems that conservatives live longer (living less dangerously?) or that people turn conservative as they age. It is well-known that older people lean conservative.

This study is, itself, impressively fake, just like BuzzFeed.

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

#216

Post by 8ytecoder »

ergothus wrote: post #167
SkyMarshal wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Data journalism and long-form deep investigative journalism is fine, or least less bad. With the caveat that data journalism that illustrates past or current events is fine, but that which tries to draw correlations or make predictions should be taken with a grain of salt. Short form journalism I ignore, or seek the primary source (like a president’s speech or similar).

>long-form deep investigative journalism I like the distinction you put here, as I've found most "long form" journalism to be focused on superficial details and to try to emphasize innuendo and rumor into emotional plays rather than focusing on facts. As soon as I hit a physical description of one of the people involved that covers more than a sentence (when the article isn't covering a topic involving a physical des…

News == current happenings. It really never helps me with seeing the bigger picture. Unless I'm already aware of the big picture in which case News augments my understanding.

Magazines == Get the big picture on a broad range of topics.

Books == Get the full picture on specific topics.

Looking at things this way I have come to realize that most news I used to read doesn't add any empirical value to me. Sure I can show off I know this and that and that happened and how stupid is that and laugh at it. But that's about it. News (cable news) is literally entertainment IMHO.

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

#217

Post by k9s9 »

benj111 wrote: post #193
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 remember a boss not so long ago, similar age. Started having a rant about a woman that was emailing him, flirting with him. I realised it was some kind of phishing thing. He just took it at face value. He wasn't naïve, and had all his faculties, so it really stuck out. Maybe its like country bumpkins without street smarts, maybe they just havent learned the defenses needed?

True. There are so many issues most people don't even realize until it hits them personally.

https://ledger.humanetech.com - to see the cumulative damage, engagement maximizing social networks/news media are doing.

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

#218

Post by k9s9 »

nilkn wrote: post #175
dandare wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

"Don't trust mainstream media" doesn't mean you have to turn to even more untrustworthy sources, nor does it mean you can't ever go to mainstream outlets for information. It just means you have to examine what you're told critically and compare it across sources. I had an epiphany in mid-November 2018. I realized that, despite watching and reading the news on a pretty much daily basis, none of my voting decisions wer…

Yup Matt Taibbi has a good book calling the news media - Hate Inc. They spend all their time stoking fears and amping peoples anxiety and threat perception, all to maximize engagement - https://taibbi.substack.com/p/introduction-the-fairway

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

#219

Post by georgeecollins »

sillyquiet wrote: post #31

Like other commenters, this study jives with my experience with older relatives. I mean 'forwards from grandma' has been a thing forever, right? 'Bill Gates will give a nickel every time this is read' (remember email chains?), 'naked women get shared, but this heroic child won't get a single like', 'Like and Share if you stand with politician X', etc etc. Combine this with the targeted scamming of elderly from variou…

I am old enough to remember when 'forwards from Grandma' was newspaper clippings sent in the mail! Nothing has changed.

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

#220

Post by TremendousJudge »

asdff wrote: post #209
TremendousJudge wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or maybe children should vote, since they have all the future ahead of them. If there's a reason why education is ignored so much by governments it's because children don't vote

"as president, I will give free lollipops to every boy and girl who votes for me"

I know, I was being facetious.

However, the bit on education I still believe it to be true

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