Science Advances: Conservatives and elderly 7 times more likely to post fake information

All I know is, I love to play geezers at the holdem tables. They can't bluff even though they try and they believe any bluff you throw at them....easy pickins!!!

They also tend to drink at the table and when the meds kick in....reel in the fish! You don't need science to recognize the early signs of dementia.

a reply to: Mahogany
I am suspicious of anyone and anything that attempts to denigrate older people; they have been here and have observed the propaganda machine at work. They are well aware of what is trying to be sold to us.

There is a saying; if you don't know your history, you are bound to repeat it. The older population are wise and should be given respect; not turned into a scapegoat.

a reply to: Mahogany

What do they consider fake news.

So I looked. They chose certain domains and limited fake news in their study to only those domains who happened to contain mostly conservative agendas.

That study is a good example of what not to do. It's pure junk.

Conservatives are 7 times more likely to post conservative news items. Shocker.

a reply to: Mahogany

I had a look at the paper. Social and political science, small sample, published methodology. Sample measured social and economic groupings as well as age and self disclosed political affiliation. Interesting results but not surprising.

Also not surprising is how intellectualism is attacked by those that do not like the results of the academic endeavour.

Sometimes, small studies like this are a precursor to larger, more comprehensive ones and I hope other social and political scientists get funding to take this further. Perhaps even cross reference and compare with harder scientific evidence from brain mapping.

Side bar, not entirely off topic, I also hope a study will be along soon about the proliferation of totalitarian thought amongst the general population.

a reply to: Mahogany

Did the conservatives post about Hillary winning by a landslide?

The progressives I know, not Centrists or Conservatives, are the ones that appear to be suffering from issues. I presume it will only get worse now, with judge Ginsberg getting replaced. I think it will get very bad soon.

a reply to: Onlyyouknow

Whilst I agree with much of your post, this study, it's results and the reporting of it is in no way a sign of disrespect to anyone. Results are results and if we refrain from detached reporting and making information widely available we risk creating fake paradigms, secret knowledge and hidden history.

Seems like another way to dismiss "old school" values and wisdom, some of these folks actually grew up before their brain's were fried by , well you name it....

The World won't be safe until those old bastards, especially the White Men, are Dead ! Yup, many in this " Progressive " NWO
believe just that ! So no big surprise this is what is being pushed on our youth through a presumably "credible" academic source.. don't buy it kids, better off learning a few things from Grandma and Grandpa , they actually CARE about you !

originally posted by: teapot
a reply to: Onlyyouknow

Whilst I agree with much of your post, this study, it's results and the reporting of it is in no way a sign of disrespect to anyone. Results are results and if we refrain from detached reporting and making information widely available we risk creating fake paradigms, secret knowledge and hidden history.

Did a search on the authors of the study: Andrew Guess, Jonathan Nagler, and Joshua Tucker.

Not hard to find their twitter accounts and I will just say due to seeing an anti-President Trump slant; I will leave my statement unchanged.

They really can't use Facebook sharing to judge if someone is spreading fake news. Often I like or share an article because I am trying to show a person I have seen it and am glad they are actually posting something.

I did not realize sharing something made you look like you agreed, half the time I thought the article shared was a joke and made a joke comment on it. Half the time the article was just shared and the one posting itit and made a joke comment about it. So, I guess our sharing funny stuff on Facebook is being used to show conservatives believe fake news.

Hmmm. I am going to have to spread this article throughout Facebook to make sure conservatives and old people know that liking and sharing should not be done because all news is fake news. I will also have to quit posting articles from MSM on my Facebook and not spread the fake news MSM is spreading.

I never read in the Facebook info when I signed up that sharing something meant that you totally agreed with it and that you should not share anything you did not agree with.

What the hell kind of society did we create? Do the researchers in that study have a clue that most people try to share things just to be nice? A lot of women are sharing all kinds of crazy stuff, it is supposed to be a joke, and usually the comments are just fun loving comments picking the thing apart....something to do.

I don't think Liberals know how to have fun, not everything people say is serious. It is fun chatting and posting stuff on Facebook, I do not start facebook threads myself, mine would be boring and technical, my friends would think I went off to some loony medical school, I want them to know me as a person who liked to have fun and work. Some of the Liberals I know on Facebook post such serious things on health, all of which I could debunk when it comes to health. But I don't, I tell them they are going astray in person, explaining reality in laymans terms.

originally posted by: Onlyyouknow
a reply to: Mahogany
I am suspicious of anyone and anything that attempts to denigrate older people; they have been here and have observed the propaganda machine at work. They are well aware of what is trying to be sold to us.

There is a saying; if you don't know your history, you are bound to repeat it. The older population are wise and should be given respect; not turned into a scapegoat.

When I was about ten my dad told me "believe half of what you hear and three quarters of what you see" And he stated that includes what science says too. I don't think he could even comprehend what it was going to be like today when you can't even believe half of what you see. That was fifty three years ago, all along I watched because I was warned. The Young are naive to this, they believe interpretations of scientific evidence that are not real or pertinent to what it is applied to. I feel sorry for people these days. Most of the kids my age did not get warned, later our government Econ teacher made sure to inform us in class of the reality of these things, none of the stuff he talked about in class was on the tests, he was trying to tell us what to expect in life, then he made us read our books and tested us on it. I liked that teacher, but it was hard to comprehend that what we were being conditioned to believe in the books was not reality.

a reply to: teapot

You're a gem. I haven't seen you post before but I hope I do soon again.

You read the report and gave an intelligent and educated reply. Thanks.

a reply to: Mahogany

Uh oh, social media posting? Whatever should we do?

originally posted by: Propagandalf
a reply to: Mahogany

Uh oh, social media posting? Whatever should we do?

For a self proclaimed wizard of propaganda, I'd say you likely already know what to do.

originally posted by: teapot
a reply to: Mahogany

I had a look at the paper. Social and political science, small sample, published methodology. Sample measured social and economic groupings as well as age and self disclosed political affiliation. Interesting results but not surprising.

Also not surprising is how intellectualism is attacked by those that do not like the results of the academic endeavour.

Sometimes, small studies like this are a precursor to larger, more comprehensive ones and I hope other social and political scientists get funding to take this further. Perhaps even cross reference and compare with harder scientific evidence from brain mapping.

Side bar, not entirely off topic, I also hope a study will be along soon about the proliferation of totalitarian thought amongst the general population.

It's facebook, sort of like a chatroom where people go play. I don't take anything there serious, most times people are posting where they are posting pictures of the food at a restaurant or on the grill. Or they pick an article to share which they haven't even read just to look like they actually are paying attention when in fact they don't even give a crap.

It is like my daughter saying her friends mother must be getting alzheimer disease because she did not remember my daughter had been in Europe five years ago. Us older people just try to make conversation, half the time what people say goes in one ear and out the other, we just ask to look concerned. She didn't believe my explanation till my wife chirped in and said she always makes small talk to look interested when in fact she is just being polite.

Oops. Off topic, using social media is not a good representation of what people usually really think.

Is Bruce Jenner a man considered fake news?

I remember reading a cnn article, which called the fast and the furious gun scandle fake news. That’s the issue, if you think Seth Rich is the DNC hack, did that count as fake news and if you think the Russians did it, then that’s not fake news.

a reply to: Mahogany


After reading over the what list they used.

Our BuzzFeed-based list

This is how they got the list of fake news. It was a Buzzfeed list.


I guess they didn't take into consideration that Buzzfeed also spreads fake news. They even admitted it.

A study that claimed to explain why falsehoods go viral — findings that were widely covered by the media — has turned out to itself be false.
The article, published in June 2017, blamed people’s short attention spans for the spread of fake news. It was a claim that garnered coverage in dozens of news outlets, including Smithsonian, Business Insider, Vice, Scientific American, the Verge, and BuzzFeed News.

www.buzzfeednews.com...

And another report on Buzzfeed.

Buzzfeed’s Trump report takes ‘fake news’ to a new level

nypost.com...

The NY Post was not on the Buzzfeed list, so I guess that means it does not print fake news, according to the Buzzfeed list.

Not a Science Paper, sorry.

I don't have a Facebook account, so there are many things I don't know about it.

As I recall, there were so many Russian bots on Facebook they were able to sway an election that was 90% in Hillary Clinton's favor over to Donald Trump. So how do we know that all these alleged "conservative" and "elderly" people aren't Russian bots?

And what kind of fake news is being spread on Facebook? Is it like "North Korea will attack Hawaii tomorrow!" or "Princess Beatrice and Her New Boyfriend Are Super Cute—Here's What You Need to Know About Him " (Well, not super cute. Maybe cute in a we live in Alabama and ain't related at all sort of way.)

In any case, the only way to stem this growing tide of fake news being spread is to ban old people and conservatives from Facebook. Remember, Facebook doesn't charge anything for membership, but makes a ton of money. If you're not smart enough to figure out that you are the product they sell, you're not smart enough to be old or conservative.

originally posted by: Mahogany

originally posted by: Propagandalf
a reply to: Mahogany

Uh oh, social media posting? Whatever should we do?

For a self proclaimed wizard of propaganda, I'd say you likely already know what to do.

I’ve never proclaimed myself a wizard of propaganda. Maybe you’re more conservative or elderly than you let on.

a reply to: Grambler

Don't like the message so you call it fake news?

Meanwhile you have been on here supporting fake pro-Trump articles without taking time fact check them.

You are a shining example of what the study has shown.

Unfortunately ATS has become very right leaning and the posts on this thread reflect that.

OP, thank you for posting!

a reply to: Mahogany

Story contradicts itself. There are tons of liberals over 65.