In a world where our news is predominantly found on social media websites like Facebook, we need to be weary of whether or not what we are reading is true or just a hoax. Facebook has decided to take this confusion into its own hands, and is in the beginning stages of coming up with a satire “tag”.
Websites such as The Onion and Clickhole, retail non-fiction stories that could be perceived as true, causing most gullible readers to share it further, in fear that it is credible. Most stories are humorous and harmless, however, after a lot of frustrated users who can’t tell the difference between what’s real and what is fake, Facebook has essentially just submitted its own quick fix: if you don’t want people to fall for fake news, clearly mark it — and on the platform where people encounter fake news most. Eventually, there will be a tag on each post that is shared, and ones that are flagged as fake, will be marked with a satire tag in the story’s headline.