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Ask HN: How would YOU stop the spread of fake news?
By now, we all know that social media sites have been guilty of allowing the spread of fake news (likely unknowingly). While many of these same companies are trying to find a fix for this, I wonder if HN'ers have innovative ideas on how to do this. What creative solutions/ideas do you have that could stop fake news from spreading (on social media AND elsewhere)?
- sheraz 10y agoI know this will come off as sarcastic, but I honestly mean it -- we should be teaching people to think critically. The more that we outsource higher order thinking to machines (and badly I might add), the worse this problem will get. We should be finding better ways to get more readers to think critically. I don't this this is a tech-solve, but rather a human one.
- allendoerfer 10y agoThis way it always ends with "Well, schools have to teach that, too". While critical thinking surely is something schools should teach, for the foreseeable future there will be an underclass and we should take some intermediate steps. I think the root of the problem is that attention equals money and you get the most attention with shocking news or extreme viewpoints. There are some media types less dependent on money, which seem to work better. I think we should think about ways to expand their audience.
- jrnichols 10y agoI agree with you. Critical thinking is way more important. I'm already seeing people proudly admitting that they are mis-using the tools on Facebook. A few of my "left" friends were talking about how they encourage others to flag anything from sources they consider "right wing" as "fake news."
- allfou 10y agoThis is a huge business opportunity for new startups. Of course everyone will share their awesome ideas and creative solutions here :)
- throwaway420 10y agoThis "fake news" meme is as transparent as McDonalds and Burger King getting together and labeling all competing restaurants as "fake food". Don't people understand that you're hearing this "fake news" meme every day because the dying corporate mainstream media industry is trying to discredit the independent media competition who is eating their lunch? Breitbart, Drudge, Infowars, and hundreds of smaller media outlets, YouTube Channels, Twitter accounts, and the like in many cases are getting as much or more attention than the old media and siphoning off clicks and ad revenue. The dying old guard is fighting for its life and trying to use its last gasping breath to put in place social media policies, social engineering, search engine manipulation, and technical solutions to try and smother their competition.
- elmerfud 10y ago"Fake News" seems to be the politically correct term for censorship. Why does no one frame their question in this way? So, my answer is I don't stop it because this is modern day book burning, nothing else.
- bsvalley 10y agoHow much would you be willing to pay HN'ers for giving you awesome ideas?