Digital Deception: The Severe Problem Permeating Through Social Networking

I have a friend, who happens to be a friend in real life and on Facebook. She’s smart, accomplished, and has a high-profile job. She’s someone who I would in no way be surprised to find one day giving an eloquent commencement address at the high school she graduated from.

This friend of mine grew up in a small town in the American south. So when she shared a story on Facebook about a noteworthy actress who had glowing things to say about her treatment while being stranded in this town, I was intrigued by the story enough to click on it. The story was from a rather mild sounding website: Channel16News.com. The story told of this actress, Jennifer Aniston, who, after suffering a flat tire while driving through the town in a rental car, was impressed by the number of people who stopped to assist her. It was one of those uplifting stories that might easily make the rounds on Facebook or Twitter. Problem is, it was completely bogus. I began to suspect something was amiss when Facebook directed me to similar stories to the one I had just clicked on, one of which was from the same website and the exact same story, word for word, with only the name of the celebrity and the town in which the event occurred having been changed.

In the end, my friend was quick to recognize her error and correct it. I tell this story only to illustrate a point. If this smart, capable person is susceptible, then we all are, to an ever-present and quite venomous, digital deception.

Clickbait is nothing new. It’s been around since people figured out a way to monetize digital content. In September of this year TechCrunch published an article in which it attempted to define clickbait. Its definition: “Clickbaiting is the intentional act of over-promising or otherwise misrepresenting – in headline, on social media, in an image, or some combination – what you’re going to find when you read a story on the web.”

This defines traditional clickbaiting. This is where the headline might misrepresent the article being presented. This act is certainly devious. Yet, it is nothing compared to outright deceit.

I don’t admit to knowing anything about Channel16News more than a brief Google investigation, which is about all I care to know about the website. Channel16News’ “About Us” page contains the following text: channel16news.com is an entertainment website composed mostly of articles containing fantasy news or satire. Though some articles on channel16news.com contain actual events, none of the articles on channel16news.com should be considered true and are simply meant for entertainment purposes.

Seeing a website with an “About Us” page that’s primary function is to act as a disclaimer really makes you love the internet. It also has a copyright of 2017. So, either it is from a dark, dystopian future we should all be concerned about, or, more likely, it is just wildly deceitful.

My belief (without speaking to the editor or editors of Channel16News) is the website is purely creating content to generate ad revenue. Every time someone clicks on a story they get a few pennies in their pocket. Channel16News is certainly not alone in this burgeoning internet genre. Websites of this kind are the National Enquirer of the internet. Yet, when we thumb through the pages of National Enquirer while waiting in line at our local grocery store, we understand what we’re reading is fiction. When we see stories our bright, accomplished friends share on social networking we assume them to be true, even if they’re not. This problem is not going away, and in fact has only been enhanced by this election cycle.

We all have friends who endlessly share content on platforms like Facebook and Twitter that promote their candidate for President (or degrade his/her opponent). This happens on both sides of the political highway. The story that is shared may not be true, but the “angry emojis” that people use to highlight the displeasure the article fosters in them is very, very true. So too is the division these misleading or patently false stories are creating.

Us ordinary folk are not the only ones vulnerable to falling for this deception. CNN reported on Wednesday morning that broadcaster Sean Hannity was forced to issue a correction after referencing a fake news article on his radio show. It’s an example of how quickly these completely inaccurate stories can become “fact.” One must only navigate a browser to Snopes.com to see the breathtaking immensity of the problem.

The bottom line is social networks like Facebook and Twitter have given us all enormous power. We are now the curators of our own digital magazine. Our mastheads are Facebook profiles, Twitter handles, and Pinterest boards. We get to decide the content that appears: photos of our children, the food we eat, our Halloween costumes, the stories which inspire us, make us think, and leave us incensed. We are only beginning to understand the how these new mediums will shape us. Their power will undoubtedly play a key role in deciding who will be named the 45^th President of the United States. Beyond this, as our digital presence becomes more and more a part of our physical presence, this power each one of us possesses will help shape the future of our world.

I will close with this thought. It is imperative that we understand that with every piece of content we add to or promote on our social channels, we are making a tremendous impact on this world. We must always remember this very real power every time our finger or mouse hovers over that alluring button that reads “Share.”