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it's probably less likely for younger people because we grew up with this form of media.

isk517 8y ago
I wonder. I'm in my 30's and while people my age maybe less likely to fall for fake news I know all to many people that will eagerly believe every obviously staged 'viral video' is completely real. I think the percentage of rubes remains the same regardless of age, just who is being targeted with what changes.
DiffEq 8y ago
There has always been fake news...yellow journalism, whatever; and it was always in just as much abundance. If you study history it becomes abundantly clear that most of man's terrible actions to one another is the result of fake news. Heck - this study is fake news; crafted to deliver exactly what the researchers wanted to find.
- EpicEng 8y ago
  Sure, but it has been less prevalent (in sheer volume) and hard to quantify historically. Now we can scrape their social media and get real data.
asdff 8y ago
They are worse off. News for them is headline deep; no one reads articles from reputable publications for info anymore, they'd rather have a handsome talking face on youtube 'break it down' in 20 minutes what would be a 4 minute nyt article containing the same factual points and none of the wishy-washy 'analysis.' The more you read about the world, the better things stick in your head, the more connections you make, and the more you know. If you leave the critical thinking to some internet celebrity with no incentive to be credible, you end up being coddled from a lot of the news and get basic facts wrong.
wvenable 8y ago
I disagree. One just has to look at Reddit to see that the younger generation is as caught up in all this as any. I think some people are just wired to think that way and, as we get older, some people switch to thinking that way. As I get older, I get more concerned that whether or not I mentally decline in one way or the other is just random chance and genetics.
- djohnston 8y ago
  > One just has to look at Reddit to see that the younger generation is as caught up in all this as any. The study refutes that statement. I'm not saying we're invincible, I'm just saying we're less susceptible. Anyways, afa mental decline with age goes, some of it is random, some of it is genetics, some of it is lifestyle that is 100% in your control.
  - wvenable 8y ago
    Perhaps younger people don't share "fake news" because they simply don't share like that. How many people under 30 are sharing news on Facebook? It doesn't mean they're not down the rabbit hole on /r/the_donald or /r/incels. Perhaps the generational divide is not in the what but the how.
    - djohnston 8y ago
      that's a fair point i didn't consider
jhayward 8y ago
It's far more likely that younger people simply don't share any kind of news articles very much. I.e., their media consumption patterns are different.

I wonder. I'm in my 30's and while people my age maybe less likely to fall for fake news I know all to many people that will eagerly believe every obviously staged 'viral video' is completely real. I think the percentage of rubes remains the same regardless of age, just who is being targeted with what changes.

DiffEq 8y ago

There has always been fake news...yellow journalism, whatever; and it was always in just as much abundance. If you study history it becomes abundantly clear that most of man's terrible actions to one another is the result of fake news. Heck - this study is fake news; crafted to deliver exactly what the researchers wanted to find.

EpicEng 8y ago
Sure, but it has been less prevalent (in sheer volume) and hard to quantify historically. Now we can scrape their social media and get real data.

asdff 8y ago

They are worse off. News for them is headline deep; no one reads articles from reputable publications for info anymore, they'd rather have a handsome talking face on youtube 'break it down' in 20 minutes what would be a 4 minute nyt article containing the same factual points and none of the wishy-washy 'analysis.' The more you read about the world, the better things stick in your head, the more connections you make, and the more you know. If you leave the critical thinking to some internet celebrity with no incentive to be credible, you end up being coddled from a lot of the news and get basic facts wrong.

wvenable 8y ago

I disagree. One just has to look at Reddit to see that the younger generation is as caught up in all this as any. I think some people are just wired to think that way and, as we get older, some people switch to thinking that way. As I get older, I get more concerned that whether or not I mentally decline in one way or the other is just random chance and genetics.

djohnston 8y ago
> One just has to look at Reddit to see that the younger generation is as caught up in all this as any. The study refutes that statement. I'm not saying we're invincible, I'm just saying we're less susceptible. Anyways, afa mental decline with age goes, some of it is random, some of it is genetics, some of it is lifestyle that is 100% in your control.
- wvenable 8y ago
  Perhaps younger people don't share "fake news" because they simply don't share like that. How many people under 30 are sharing news on Facebook? It doesn't mean they're not down the rabbit hole on /r/the_donald or /r/incels. Perhaps the generational divide is not in the what but the how.
  - djohnston 8y ago
    that's a fair point i didn't consider

jhayward 8y ago

It's far more likely that younger people simply don't share any kind of news articles very much. I.e., their media consumption patterns are different.