Has anybody ever fallen for fake news?

[maryellen99]

I'll admit I did with the Prince Phillip death watch back in May. But I know it'll be real soon rather than later.

[ProfessorGAC]

1. Maybe Sort Of

On 9/11, i pretty much believed the "another airplane is targeting the Sears Tower." By the time i heard that though, it was pretty clear there were only 4 planes involved and three of them had already hit buildings.

As i was at the airport (a small one well south of Chicago) as i was driving home i was looking out in the distance looking for low flying jets. Even after i heard the 4th plane had gone down in PA, i was still looking for the plane headed for Chicago.

Of course, the Chicago targeting plane was a made up story by some idiot newscaster and at no time did the plot include targeting the Sears Tower. But i fell for it at least for that morning.

[maryellen99]

3. There were a ton of rumors that morning

Remember they reported a car bomb blew up at the State Department.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. Yep, Now

I forgot about that until you brought it up. But, if we believed them when they were flat out wrong, we fell for fake news.

Given the circumstances, probably a natural reaction.

[Wounded Bear]

2. Won't get specific, but I think we all have from time to time...

the difference being that thow opposed to us seem to accept it as dogma and are unwilling to question it.

Around here, I think the majority (if not vast majority) will listen to facts and will accept debunking of fake news. We're all susceptible to knowledge that follows our own prejudices. The trick is to discount the fake shit when it is exposed.

[Orrex]

4. I believed George Takei's April Fools' Day tweet

The one in which he announced his intention to run for office.

Wishful thinking on my part, and seriously bummed out when I learned that it was a prank.

[3catwoman3]

7. That one got me, too.

I was also very disappointed when it turned out to be false.

[marylandblue]

6. I believed some Borowitz Reports about Trump were real

[3catwoman3]

8. As has been noted in past threads, things have gotten...

...so absurd that the line between veracity and satire is pretty hard to discern now, unless clearly labeled.

[Gabi Hayes]

9. Does this count?

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=r+crumb+genesis&t=ipod&iax=1&ia=images&iai=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-2zXi2ZdLl08%2FT2AVJVIZv0I%2FAAAAAAAAGCk%2FsXYaJH9NcmI%2Fs1600%2FCRUMBGENESIS.JPG

[Proud Liberal Dem]

10. There have been stories that I have believed but were later debunked

Most major news sources out there are fairly reputable and report honestly and make corrections/retractions if necessary. You have to be most cautious during the unfolding of disasters/crises. You also have to watch out for stuff from ideologically slanted bloggers whom have an agenda or slant the news in one direction or another and satire "news" sites like the Onion or Clickhole. Ultimately, I think that you have to be a critical thinker and listen to a diversity of sources instead of blindly accepting everything that you are told. I don't think that most Americans are critical thinkers, unfortunately.

[hunter]

11. Ask some of the old timers here about Bev Harris...

Yes, electronic voting is still insecure as hell, but Harris muddied the waters something terrible. So did a few other DU posters, her allies, who are no longer with us, at least not by their original names... (look among the anti-Hillary troublemakers.)

Thank goodness, at least here in California, we had people like Secretary of State Debra Bowen who saw through the mud Harris was throwing, and the smoke she was blowing, and were able to deal with the most serious flaws of electronic voting in a rational way. In other states, politicians saw the mud and smoke and ran away, or else they were part of the corruption and blowing that smoke themselves.

I'm not proud of some of my own behavior in that debacle, but I wasn't yet aware of the place rat-fucking would take in 21st century internet politics. Dan Rather got taken out by similar means -- fake documents, news, and noise.

[enough]

12. Yes, the consistently reported news that Hillary Clinton could virtually not lose. NT

[yallerdawg]

13. Not like them damn lyin' Republicans!

They're still pumping out Hillary sold 20% of our uranium to the Russians!

THAT was FAKE NEWS deliberately twisted by supposedly reputable news sources.

I think we are getting more skeptical, even on M$M reports! We all know 'the news' can be erroneous and mistaken as first reported. It settles out, is confirmed and we have real news sourced and verified.

"Falling for FAKE NEWS" is perpetuating the FAKE NEWS!

Like what that jackass in the White House does!

[NCTraveler]

14. I did. Even promoted it once.

Was shown something I believed to be accurate and discussed it as if it were more. I don't know if it was accurate or not. I did think it was going to break. I would consider my own actions to be the spreading of fake news. Unlike the outlets the generate and romote fake news, I did not feel good about my part.

[LeftInTX]

15. Rarely...

I tend to err on the skeptical side...I have fallen for "real news", but it was the wrong date.

Some of the deportation/immigration news is over a year old. It occurred on Obama's watch.