Teens earn $1000s from producing fake news distributed on social media
“A 16-year-old who runs a site called BVAnews.com told him it’s averaging 1 million page views per month. “
Social media sucks – pink and red iceberg photos are fakes
Studying geology is a hobby for me. I subscribe to some FB groups that feature items about geology. However, this post from Geology of the world and the Environment is fake. I fell for it and stupidly shared it into my timeline, tagging my youngest daughter, who is a geologist and microbiologist, seeking her input (she was out of town at the time so I did not get a reply). When I first saw it, I read up on “Watermelon…
How can we know if the #Wikileaks emails are authentic?
Many years ago, email spam and phishing attacks via email became a big problem. Most such attacks originate from email servers other than the one they pretend to be from. For example, you receive an email that purports to be from the IRS (irs.gov) but in reality, came from a server named irs.gov.uk, located in another country. To detect this, the industry adopted a method to detect fraudulent or altered emails using a concept somewhat like a “digital signature” stamped…
Social media hoax posts more popular than those with correct information
Researchers examined a selection of social media posts about the Zika virus, looking at posts placed on Facebook for one week in late June. About 12 percent of the posts were classified as misleading. Most of those posts suggested that Zika virus was a way to depopulate developing nations or called the entire disease a hoax. While most of the 200 posts contained useful and credible information, the researchers found that those spreading conspiracy theories or misinformation were most popular….
Political campaigns use fake “Astro turf” social media influencers
In politics, “grass roots” supporters refers to an organically developed group that supports an initiative, a party or a politician. The idea is the group has arisen “from the people”. Counter to that, lobbying organizations create fake “grass roots” support groups, with fake names such as “Citizens for Jobs”. These fake organizations are known as “astro turf” – literally fake grass roots support organizations funded and managed by lobbying groups working to present the false impression that this is a…
Do some people want to receive propaganda? YES
So it goes with propaganda. For propaganda to be effective, it requires submissive subjects. As Professor Nicholas O’Shaughnessy wrote, propaganda is a “co-production in which we are willing participants.” Source: Why Does Propaganda Work? Some People Want It | Zero Hedge The answer is an absolute yes! Millions of people voluntarily belong to Facebook groups whose sole purpose is the dissemination of propaganda. Whether it be left or right leaning political groups, environmental and other activist groups, many people read…
Did a Court ban Native Americans from protesting on their own land?
TL;DR Summary Native Americans and others are protesting oil pipeline construction in North Dakota. This “news” item says the “U.S. government bans Native American Tribe from Protesting on their own land – send in police to remove protesters”. The graphic image looks scary. Except that is not a Native American and this photo is from 2012, in Rio de Janiero, Brazil and has nothing to do with the events occurring in North Dakota. That is a first clue that this may…
Social Media is a stupidity amplifier
The news that big insurance companies are dropping out of the exchanges doesn’t mean Obamacare is broken, writes Tim Mullaney. The problem is easily fixable once we realize it’s really about a few specialty drugs. Source: How Gilead ‘broke’ Obamacare This article, from a Marketwatch.com reporter says insurance companies are dropping out of ObamaCare due to expensive “specialty drugs”. This assertion does not pass the giggle test. This article, and its sharing on social media, demonstrates how social media amplifies…
Some speech is more equal than others
“Throughout the document, OSJI’s position appears to be that private actors on the internet must be brought under international control in order to prevent them from suppressing each other’s freedom of expression and speech.” Open Society Justice Initiative Proposed 2014 Strategy/DCLeaks Source: Leaked Soros Document Calls For Regulating Internet To Favor ‘Open Society’ Supporters Via @dailycaller Propaganda is all about influencing – or controlling – the media. This blog has shown how social media has become a frictionless conduit for the dissemination…
How to use charts for misleading propaganda!
This chart appeared on a blog post saying auto sales are “down again” and this should worry us about a recession. See that blue arrow at the right? Looks horrible!!!! But this chart design is a real mess. First, the blue arrow anchors our view on the blue line and its downturn at the right. But the real chart is the harder to see gray column chart. Column charts are a *terrible* way to show a trend – line charts…