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I think the article spells out the problem very well. Entities can craft fake news that appeal to very specific audiences and target them so directly that the m

I think the article spells out the problem very well. Entities can craft fake news that appeal to very specific audiences and target them so directly that the majority doesn't even know about the fake news. The message can be tweaked slightly for different audiences to push or pull them from one view to another. This is a huge problem. There is no mechanism that can verify the messages are true. It was widely reported that this is exactly what the Kushner organization did during the Trump campaign. I'm not saying Kushner created fake news, but his organization did in fact push highly targeted messages that influenced people in ways that one might consider dishonest. It is a problem, the article lays it out. It could do better (as could I) to convince, but I find it hard to believe that someone like yourself can't convince yourself with the data available. Fake news is real, but it's not what Trump says it is. (Fake news is real, lol)

Goladus 9y ago
> Fake news is real, but it's not what Trump says it is. It's also not what this Wired author says it is. === Originally, the term "Fake News" was created by mainstream news organizations (aka old media) to denigrate all competition (legitimate or not) from social media. It was a branding campaign meant to poison the well against outside sources. Trump just turned the language against them, since he benefited from new media. The reality is that the only thing that will work is for individuals to apply critical reading skills and evaluate the content for what it is. Big news brands don't want that, though. They want people to think "real news is us, fake news is them"
whatshisface 9y ago
The best I can do is convince you that the difference is one of quantity, not kind. All liars tweak their lies for the weaknesses of their perceived audiences. Governments all across the political spectrum have sat in back rooms, carefully considering what the people should be made to think. That's been going on for a very long time. You can't create a pannel of lie-destroyers because the liars would just see them as another audience to capture. The only solution, as uncomfortable as it might be, is to mix people so well that there's no way to lie to a target without a nearby non-targeted friend finding out. What does that look like in practice? A marketplace of ideas. If people are captured in filter bubbles, you have a thousand local monopolies of ideas.

Goladus 9y ago

> Fake news is real, but it's not what Trump says it is. It's also not what this Wired author says it is. === Originally, the term "Fake News" was created by mainstream news organizations (aka old media) to denigrate all competition (legitimate or not) from social media. It was a branding campaign meant to poison the well against outside sources. Trump just turned the language against them, since he benefited from new media. The reality is that the only thing that will work is for individuals to apply critical reading skills and evaluate the content for what it is. Big news brands don't want that, though. They want people to think "real news is us, fake news is them"

whatshisface 9y ago

The best I can do is convince you that the difference is one of quantity, not kind. All liars tweak their lies for the weaknesses of their perceived audiences. Governments all across the political spectrum have sat in back rooms, carefully considering what the people should be made to think. That's been going on for a very long time. You can't create a pannel of lie-destroyers because the liars would just see them as another audience to capture. The only solution, as uncomfortable as it might be, is to mix people so well that there's no way to lie to a target without a nearby non-targeted friend finding out. What does that look like in practice? A marketplace of ideas. If people are captured in filter bubbles, you have a thousand local monopolies of ideas.