Facebook 'Trending' fights fake news on desktop & iPhone, displays trusted publisher & sum...
In an effort to fight the fake news epidemic, changes to Facebook's Trending section have now rolled out to all users, adding an original, trusted source of the material and brief summary of the story.
The changes, announced at the end of January, are intended to provide more context to what is trending on Facebook, as well as who provided the original information. The headline and source are selected by Facebook based on engagement around the article on Facebook, the engagement around the publisher overall, and whether other articles are linking to it.
As before, selecting the topic sends the user to a page with multiple links to different sources covering the same story.
Facebook claims that the changes should make trending topics be displayed quicker, make the feature more effective at capturing a wide array of news, and also ensure that trending topics reflect real world events being covered by multiple news outlets and aren't some kind of news item intentionally fraudulent and intended to deceive readers -- also known as "fake news."
Topics are automatically selected by an algorithm, but are reviewed by a team to ensure they accurately represent real-world events. Legitimate news is sorted by a variety of factors, according to Facebook, including collating when people report news as fake or spam.
The list is also no longer personalized based on interests, with people in the same region seeing the same topics. Initial AppleInsider testing shows that New York City; Washington D.C.; Burlington, Vt.; Fort Myers, Fla.; San Antonio, Tex; and Erie, Penn. are considered the same region for the Trending category display, at least in the early phases of the U.S.-wide rollout.
On the iPhone app, the Trending stories list is found after hitting the search button.
Fake news about a D.C. restaurant led to a real-life crime.
Apple offers its own News app, and has vowed to do its part to cut down on the spread of misinformation. In an interview last week, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook called fake news "one of today's chief problems," and "not something that has a simple solution."
And earlier this week, Apple's head of internet services Eddy Cue said the company is working on backend solutions to prevent the spread of fake news in the iOS News application.
The changes, announced at the end of January, are intended to provide more context to what is trending on Facebook, as well as who provided the original information. The headline and source are selected by Facebook based on engagement around the article on Facebook, the engagement around the publisher overall, and whether other articles are linking to it.
As before, selecting the topic sends the user to a page with multiple links to different sources covering the same story.
Facebook claims that the changes should make trending topics be displayed quicker, make the feature more effective at capturing a wide array of news, and also ensure that trending topics reflect real world events being covered by multiple news outlets and aren't some kind of news item intentionally fraudulent and intended to deceive readers -- also known as "fake news."
Topics are automatically selected by an algorithm, but are reviewed by a team to ensure they accurately represent real-world events. Legitimate news is sorted by a variety of factors, according to Facebook, including collating when people report news as fake or spam.
The list is also no longer personalized based on interests, with people in the same region seeing the same topics. Initial AppleInsider testing shows that New York City; Washington D.C.; Burlington, Vt.; Fort Myers, Fla.; San Antonio, Tex; and Erie, Penn. are considered the same region for the Trending category display, at least in the early phases of the U.S.-wide rollout.
On the iPhone app, the Trending stories list is found after hitting the search button.
Fake news about a D.C. restaurant led to a real-life crime.
Apple offers its own News app, and has vowed to do its part to cut down on the spread of misinformation. In an interview last week, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook called fake news "one of today's chief problems," and "not something that has a simple solution."
And earlier this week, Apple's head of internet services Eddy Cue said the company is working on backend solutions to prevent the spread of fake news in the iOS News application.
Comments
Nevertheless it's Facebook's platform and they aren't limited by the First Amendment so they can inevitability do what they want. I guess if enough people requested it then they're just giving the people what they want.
ummmmm....no
Seriously, this is nothing more than a last minute attempt by the mainstream news to quell it's dwindling readership. Accuse the new media of fake news so you can continue to pump out your own fake news.
Any company who tries to silence political debate will find themselves yesterdays news pretty rapidly. This message goes to you as well Appleinsider, I'm getting fed up of you shutting down comments sections where your article has a political slant and you can't handle criticism.
People are just going to go elsewhere.
Factually, you're incorrect, by the way. Paid subscriptions to the "mainstream news" is at an all-time high regardless of slant. Regardless of what side of the aisle you sit, it's a good time to report on politics.
Then imagine your "new media" reporters living up to that standard.
Apple News should be on the AppleTV with real news. This is the gaping content hole that cable has. No good news outlet. They all seem to be shills for one of the political parties. Or incompetent. Or both.
But an interesting idea for original programming on the Apple News Channel would be a daily update of all the Fake News out there coupled with some good host and co-host driven banter. While a lot of the Fake News out there is harmless, some can be quite damaging.
But a possible way to turn the Fake News industry on it's head would be to aggregate it all into a show and laugh at it a little.
Get this to an original programming guru to get their take.
Honestly, I can no longer tell what is real over the sensational headlines.
I am personally tired of the media jumping to some sort of conclusion before all the information is available. I remember it all starting with the Calif Highway chases in the 1990's where the media would will the dead air with who the person could be and what they could have done to attract the police attention. Most people realize most of what the media saying was all made up. Today it is hard to know what is real and what is made up to fill dead air. I personally read multiply sources and no two sources report the same information and even when they site or quote someone's actually words it is immediately followed by some sort of interruption of those words. The Media feels it is their job to tell people what they should think about a particular event which is playing out in real time. You can see the Media trying to hold their points of views back but eventually they can not help themselves and it all come rolling out.
The media just need to state the facts, and stop with all the post news analysis since it just their opinions nothing more.
Facebook will just have to shut off all sources that exist today since they all twist the news to their benefit which is generating advertising $ by getting people to keep watching as they spend time telling stores verse giving facts.
I worked with a VP and he was famous for saying to people in meeting and such, "The fact will not matter once you hear the story." I heard him say this on many occasions and long before the who Fake News concept began playing out in the media. But he was right most people focus more on the story than the facts so the fact did not mater just a good story
if on the other hand, you tend to follow only the sources that reinforce a slanted or political view, than you are much more likely to be exposed to 'fake news'. The NYT, WP, CNN, Reuters, AP, Los Angeles Times, BBC are several of the worthy news sources, with Established and self critical news rooms and staff that I trust.
To trust many of the partisan sources beyond, those established sources mentioned above, for accurate reporting and vetting of information, especially those resources on the right, alt right and similar, is a challenge to a news consumers logic and good judgement.
Many detractors of the established news realm, Cast doubt on the reputable news sources and treat consumers minds like a piece of tough meat pounded into submission. This is happening on a institutional basis at the White House by minimizing opportunities for reputable news operations to ask pertinent questions and degrading the press corps as being fake news, both trends toward an authoritarian leadership style.
Apple realizes their responsibility, in this area, and I thank them for the Apple News App. and their work going forward.
It's not that hard.... Ministry of Truth
I can't even stomach the MSM anymore. But, I'm torn between explanations of strong bias (and effort) or lazy (and pushing what they're being fed).
Look at Trump's news conference today, he was labelling actual easy to check facts as 'fake news' are we going to have a warning on that?. The problem is not the news the problem is that idiots are allowed to vote, but then they are also allowed to have children and indoctrinate them into their belief system. Are we going to look for a solution to that too? No, we have to understand that the truth can stand on it's own without protection because eventually the truth will always come out eventually. Doctoring the news due to it's 'untruthfulness' is a slippery slope. In Truth We Trust.
That's the harder stuff for the average person to pick up, because unless they are listening to alternate sources that uncover it, it appears to be coming from what used to be considered, reputable sources.