Facebook will now allow users to rank the credibility of media outlets that pop up in their newsfeed.
The social media giant’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg released a statement on Friday revealing the plan and the reason why the feature is so essential at a time like this.
“There’s too much sensationalism, misinformation, and polarization in the world today. Social media enables people to spread information faster than ever before, and if we don’t specifically tackle these problems, then we end up amplifying them. That’s why it’s important that News Feed promotes high-quality news that helps build a sense of common ground,” he wrote.
Zuckerberg went on to say “The hard question we’ve struggled with is how to decide what news sources are broadly trusted in a world with so much division. We could try to make that decision ourselves, but that’s not something we’re comfortable with. We considered asking outside experts, which would take the decision out of our hands but would likely not solve the objectivity problem. Or we could ask you - the community - and have your feedback determine the rating.”
The move was undoubtedly sparked by the era of Trump where the words "fake news" are shouted every time a story paints the President in a bad light. However, over-sensationalized stories with poor sourcing have been an issue since the internet became everyone’s main go-to for news.
Any little occurrence in a celebrity’s life generates a story that will create thousands of clicks but could destroy their reputation for something that is false. The legwork and clarification are often skipped by many of today’s so-called journalists. The new Facebook feature could help filter out a lot of the junk that has caused so many unnecessary issues in our society.
Source: complex.com
