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Facebook Will Let You Flag Content As 'False'

Posted by Soulskill on from the things-that-definitely-certainly-won't-ever-be-abused-at-all dept.

jfruh writes: If you're tired of seeing fake or misleading news articles posted by your friends to Facebook and then spreading like wildfire, you might be in luck. In a system that's something like Slashdot comment moderation on a grand scale, you'll now be able to flag a story as false. Links that have been flagged this way by many users will appear less frequently in people's newsfeeds, or with a disclaimer attached.

20 of 225 comments (clear)

  1. Cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What could possibly go wrong?

    1. Re:Cool by thaylin · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Exactly, dont like the political/religious message so flag it false and less people will see it.

      --
      When you cant win, ad hominem.
    2. Re:Cool by ohnocitizen · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Instead you'll get atheist or "the wrong religion(tm)" posts being flagged as false. Plus, not all political messages are such that "false will probably do". Which of the following political statements should be marked false?

      "The economy was hit hard by the housing crisis"

      "Unchecked human industry is negatively impacting the environment"

      "Medical expenses are the number 1 cause of bankruptcy in America"

      "The US constitution prohibits establishment of religion by congress"



      I think all of them are true, but not everyone will agree.

    3. Re:Cool by mysidia · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Exactly, dont like the political/religious message so flag it false and less people will see it.

      If they want to go Slashdot mod style, they should offer a dropdown with multiple different 'false' tags.

      As in, multiple different statements you can apply to a post, and your friends should be able to see how many friends applied different labels:
      (1) Awesome content
      (2) Interesting
      (3) Very Funny
      (4) Agree 100%
      (5) Disagree with this
      (6) Inaccurate Information
      (7) Partisan political bullshit
      (8) False and Dangerous
      (9) Clickbait
      (10) Scam/Bogus offer or contest
      (11) Broken link, or cannot view content
      (12) Page says you have to 'like' before you can see content (13) Links to malicious software, adware, or security attack
      (14) Common Misconception
      (15) Suspected Hoax
      (16) Definite Scam
      (17) Fraud or phishing attempt

  2. Not "like Slashdot" by bondsbw · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Slashdot doesn't have a "False" moderation... and it could use one.

    --
    All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
    1. Re:Not "like Slashdot" by sribe · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Exactly my 1st thought. Maybe not "false" exactly, but I've long wanted to be able to mod comments "-1 incorrect". Of course I also want a "+1 funny AND insightful".

    2. Re:Not "like Slashdot" by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 4, Funny

      A lot of "facts" really are opinions anyway.

      That's your opinion. Mine is different. /toungeincheek

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  3. Subject to the whims of the masses... by robinsonne · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So if enough people don't believe something and flag it false, it becomes "false." Something else for paid shills and opinionated people to do I suppose.

    1. Re:Subject to the whims of the masses... by KermodeBear · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That was my immediate reaction as well.

      "I don't agree with the political / religious / philosophical point of the article, so I am going to flag it as false, even if I know that it is true."

      Just what we needed, yet another tool to promote drama and division among people.

      --
      Love sees no species.
    2. Re:Subject to the whims of the masses... by GIL_Dude · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Well, that just calls for a reputation service so that the flagging gets the appropriate weight. Perhaps that is where meta-modding comes in (to give it a slashdot spin). But at some point, a pattern emerges that can be seen, analyzed, and corrected for when someone mods every story they see about a certain topic as false. I'm betting a company with the kind of data a Facebook or Google has can probably come up with a reputation engine for weighting the flags too that will work - not perfectly - but probably "good enough".

  4. Not good enough by jandrese · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There should be a requirement that if you flag a story as false, you have to provide a link to a reputable source refuting it.

    I already do this on Facebook, but I always provide a link to Politifacts or Factcheck or even Snopes. If you don't, you'll just be that guy who says "no" because he's to naive to believe that Obama already has secret death panels that kill millions of Americans each year.

    --

    I read the internet for the articles.
    1. Re:Not good enough by ledow · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Obligatory XKCD:

      http://xkcd.com/250/

    2. Re:Not good enough by OzPeter · · Score: 5, Interesting

      There should be a requirement that if you flag a story as false, you have to provide a link to a reputable source refuting it.

      Years ago I did this at work when some administrative staff person sent around the chain email warning you not to press a certain sequence of buttons when on your home phone as that would let the bad guys do all sorts of nefarious things. (#90 scam I was nice about it, only replied to the person who originated the email and pointed them to the Snopes article showing the said information was a hoax.

      In return, instead of thanks, I got a blistering email about who I was wasting company time by looking at things on the internet. From that, and other attempts to point out wrong things, I have come to the conclusion that some people would rather be in denial to the truth than admit that they were taken in by a hoax, and get very angry when confronted with their own stupidity.

      --
      I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
    3. Re:Not good enough by dywolf · · Score: 5, Informative

      Reality has a well known liberal bias after all.

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
    4. Re:Not good enough by meta-monkey · · Score: 4, Funny

      My wife's grandmother sends those things out in mass email forwards. And in all caps.

      A few months back her computer running Vista was so horribly bogged down with viruses and malware that I formatted it and installed Mint. When she asked what she could do to thank me I said "never, ever, ever, ever, forward me an email." Haven't gotten one since, so well worth the effort I'd say.

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
  5. The Cutest Thing Ever? by Jim+Buzbee · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Isn't my new baby the cutest thing ever?" - FALSE

  6. Uhmmm... by blackbeak · · Score: 4, Funny

    Fox News has a Facebook page, right? Just thinkin'....

    --
    Everything and its opposite is true. Get used to it.
  7. tag, but don't hide! by Unordained · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'd rather that people who would normally see such a hoax article in their feed, always go ahead and see it -- with the disclaimer attached. They're likely to see it elsewhere anyway, why not use the opportunity to inform them that it's likely false? Instead, they get to see a story on Fox, then open their Facebook feed, and see nothing about it ... now not only are they not told it's false, it even looks like a liberal conspiracy to cover-up the truth! So very helpful.

  8. False Flag by pipingguy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What about false flagging 'False' flags? I can't see any kind of coordinated abuse of this system at all, especially on political issues (which of course, don't exist on Facebook).

  9. Re:Cool features coming by rwa2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Excellent! Next up: ranking everyone on Facebook from best to worst!

    Obligatory XKCD panel #3: http://xkcd.com/451/