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> it's not about politics, it's about commerce. Absolutely. The other classic is ads disguised as news. Sometimes they'd usually be a little disclaimer but no

by rdtsc 10y ago

> it's not about politics, it's about commerce. Absolutely. The other classic is ads disguised as news. Sometimes they'd usually be a little disclaimer but not always. Some videos have people acting like news anchors talking about buying cleaning products. So it is about revenue as well. However I don't think it is coincidental everyone all of the sudden started to talk about "Fake News" since a few days ago.

soundwave106 10y ago
Previously when these type of patterns were brought up, the discussion was more using the terms "clickbait" and the concerns were about hidden "sponsored advertising". Using inflammatory populist politics to sell shady items is a pretty old pattern too (certainly it has existed throughout my lifetime). I agree it's a boogey-man to think it decided the election. Personally, I stopped using Facebook a long time ago partially because of the platform's embrace of "clickbait" and obnoxious "viral" sponsored content. The "fake news" stories, which are just another side of the same coin, confirms to me that Facebook is not a terribly trustworthy social media platform. Maybe it will confirm this to other people too. So it will be interesting to see how Facebook reacts.