As a society, one of our biggest unsolved challenges is how to deal with #fakenews. Perhaps the biggest obstacle is that there is often no universally accepted way of determining which news is fake. For example, the MSM claims that pizzagate is fake. Those seriously investigating pizzagate claim the MSM articles debunking it are fake (as well as the news about the guy who was arrested for allegedly opening fire in the DC pizzeria when he went to "self-investigate"). In the other direction, some claim that Sandy Hook was faked by the MSM. The MSM claims those debunkers are the fakenews sources. The bottom line is it's nearly impossible to have a rational, coherent discussion, because each side dismisses the other's "facts" as fiction. And each side tries to shut down the other (pizzagate gets banned from reddit, posts questioning whether pizzagate is fakenews get downvoted out of existence here at voat), leaving people genuinely interested/invested in the topic with the sense that someone is trying silence them or cover something up.
It's hard to imagine some universal arbiter of "real news" that everyone would agree to: who would give them that authority, and how would we know they weren't subject to any corrupting intention or influences? At the same time, the universal suspicion that someone might be trying to hide something from us by calling fakenews, can make us susceptible to manipulation in the other direction. And it can be difficult to distinguish online between people who are posting legit info and images or heartfelt claims, opinions from those posting doctored photos or made-up quotes, or opinions they don't really believe but are just trying to rile people up.
Perhaps the biggest casualty in all of this is that it only increases the divisiveness in America. As each side of the political spectrum attacks the fundamental honesty of the news sources cited by the other, people are increasingly encouraged to narrow their attention to news sources that only present views they agree with. With the many serious challenges facing America, it is increasingly difficult to even have real conversations about them (let alone come to any agreement) when there is so much disagreement between what people on each side believe are the real facts involved.
Long rant, I realize. Just honestly struggling with how to sort this out, and how to bridge the gaps between folks (on all sides) who believe vastly different versions of reality and rely on mutually exclusive sources of info.
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[–] abstl [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago (edited ago)
Seriously? Newbies aren't welcome to start serious discussions? Where does it say the age of accounts anyways? When I click on my account (or yours) I can see the tally of submissions, links, comments, etc., is that what you meant? I don't see where it says how long I've been on voat.
[–] leahbettsisdead 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Hover over user name. You are 9 days.
You can always try, but this community is suspicious of new accounts. This is a result of real and or perceived attemps to spam, censor, or ostracize it by outsiders. You are likely being seen as baiting people into admitting the liberals are not the only ones susceptible to fake news. If you haven't been able to tell, the community is right leaning and not very introspective.
[–] abstl [S] ago
Thank you, I appreciate the heads up and the insights. It doesn't bode well if folks that don't believe they're being heard aren't willing to listen to folks they might not agree with.