For instance, the missing Libyan jetliner story has been shared more than 140,000 times despite being questioned by the respected rumor-tracking website Snopes

For instance, the missing Libyan jetliner story has been shared more than 140,000 times despite being questioned by the respected rumor-tracking website Snopes ...... the Snopes page on the jetliner story has been shared only 735 times since it was revised to classify the rumor false, a small fraction of the circulation of articles endorsing the claim. This example shows the correction for a rumor is much less popular than the rumor itself. I'm not convinced that his shows that true stories are less popular or less engaging than rumors. It shows that people are more responsive to positive claims than negative ones. A stronger analysis would look at the top 100 shared/liked stories in a timeframe. Then determine the ratio of rumor to fact amongst this set of stories. Something else to consider: I read the article and did not question the factual basis of the claims made. Even gave it an uptick on HN. But I didn't check the sources, even though they are conveniently linked throughout the article. As far as I can tell, this makes me no different than the fella on Facebook who likes a story without checking it out. I'm doing as much work as he is. Right-leaning conspiracy theories feel right to him. Systemic cognitive biases that effect the masses (but surely not me!) feel right to me.