Now this is a surprise

[Who's Wee Dug]

Feegled from twitter

What a Prophet Terry turned out to be.

Terry Pratchett predicted “fake news” in 1995 and Bill Gates explained why he was “wrong”. https://www.thepoke.co.uk/2019/05/29/terry-pratchett-predicted-fake-news-bill-gates-explained-why-wrong/ …

 

[Tonyblack]

Awesome!

 

[RathDarkblade]

Is it a surprise, though? In 1995, the internet was only starting to become available to the masses. Cast your minds back: there wasn't much around the internet in 1995. Search engines like Yahoo! and Alta Vista ruled the roost. The Simpsons was the only animated series that adults (as well as kids!) could enjoy. Forums were only in their infancy, and newsgroups like alt.fan.pratchett were in their heyday. In 1995, the internet definitely was in its halcyon days as far as accuracy, authority and reliability were concerned. But those days were not to last, as Terry accurately predicted and Bill couldn't see.

Besides, to be fair to Bill, the internet and internet security were never his - or Microsoft's - strong suit. (I'm sure we all know that!)

 

[Penfold]

I'm not so sure that things have really changed that much when pre-internet, people read the newspapers depending on their own political bias and accepted whatever they said as truth. All they have really done is carry that bias over to the internet in the sites they read (for example, I absolutely refuse to go on a Trump supporting page on FB).

What the internet has also done is to increase the ability and availability for fact-checking the newspapers and various claims on the internet. Sadly, not everyone does this and many don't even know how. I don't have children but maybe this is something that should be taught in computer studies at schools, if it isn't already being done.

 

[Catch-up]

I know one of Thing 1's high school courses taught them how to fact check stories and memes. I'll ask Thing 2 if they taught that in any of her middle school classes.

 

[RathDarkblade]

Fact-checking? One word: Snopes.

 

[=Tamar]

Snopes isn't what it used to be. It was sold and is now run by a corporation.

 

[Tonyblack]

Sorry =Tamar, I had to fact check your post. Snopes Funding.

 

[=Tamar]

Thanks, Tony. I'm very glad to hear that Facebook is no longer involved. But I stand by my opinion that it isn't what it used to be. In particular I dislike the page format they are now using.

 

[RathDarkblade]

Ah, well ... tempora mutantur, et nos mutanur in illis.

I'm also glad that bastard Zuckerberg no longer has his tentacles into Snopes. But then, if Snopes isn't fact-checking for Facebook, wouldn't that make FB even more of a "fake-news channel"?

I'm particularly concerned because some people seem to get their news from Facebook, so if FB isn't fact-checked by a trustworthy source like Snopes, wouldn't that mean even more people will be misinformed - grossly so - and to the detriment of us all?

The anti-vaxing crowd is an example of what I refer to...

 

[Penfold]

Media Bias/Fact Check is also a good one for checking out sources for news articles.

 

[=Tamar]

Facebook was never intended to be a news channel. It is a place where people post pictures of their dinner, of their pets, and of their prejudices. It's essentially a Rupert Murdoch publication without his having to pay anybody.

I liked Snopes' old format. The new one is ...too full of formatting. I find it difficult to use.
I first got on the Internet in 1995. I remember the comments about Eternal September.
But Simpsons wasn't the only adult-oriented cartoon! I still think Dangermouse was better.

 

[RathDarkblade]

Yes, I agree that The Simpsons wasn't the only adult-oriented cartoon. But Danger Mouse ran from 1981 to 1992, so by 1995 it was too late

(Also, I had no idea about DM when it aired in 1981, because I was only 5 years old and the TV didn't air it for me. I only 'found' DM after the 2015 re-boot).

Anyway, back on topic! FB was never intended to be a sewer, either, with all the horrible people sharing racist ideas and centuries-old propaganda. But that seems like what FB is at the moment.

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

Faceborg YOU WILL BE ASSIMULATED

 

[Mixa]

Feegled from twitter

What a Prophet Terry turned out to be.

Terry Pratchett predicted “fake news” in 1995 and Bill Gates explained why he was “wrong”. https://www.thepoke.co.uk/2019/05/29/terry-pratchett-predicted-fake-news-bill-gates-explained-why-wrong/ …

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