Two in a Row, and It's not Fake!

This should be a bit quicker than last night's.  Fake news has been the talk of the internet and news coverage.  But this article has really pushed my button.  It's become almost a buzz phrase now to and it's getting annoying.

My problem with the article is that it lumps Google in with social networks Facebook and Twitter.  Sure, Google does have a social network - Google+ - of which I'm a fan, but it wasn't named.  Google the search engine was named.  The search engine is based on algorithms, stories surface to the top based on popularity.  Not on whether or not they are truthful.  And, in all honesty, the same happens with Facebook and Twitter.  But this article expects that these mathematical algorithms to know the difference.  It's just not possible!  It is only something that a human could distinguish.

What the real issue is though, is the rush to be the first to publish a story.  Look at the death of Tom Petty.  On Monday night, my wife told me that he had died.  Before she believes things like this, she always checks what should be a trusted source.  Often it's ABC or NBC.  Whatever source she checked reported he had died.  Then Tuesday night on the ABC broadcast they said they were 'remembering the life of Tom Petty who passed today' (it's not the actual quote, but similar).  I asked her about it and she said that they removed him from life support on Monday.  This rush is why we see so much fake news.  There is little to no integrity in reporting any more.

We have the solution and it doesn't involve government regulation.  It involves us not needing to be the first to know.  If we continue to "reward" the first story out of the box the fake news will get harder and harder to spot.  We will be in a position where we will only be able to believe what we see with our own eyes.