Facebook is testing a new feature intended to stop users accidentally falling victim to satirical websites like the Onion

1. Facebook to tag satirical
articles to stop users falling for
the Onion's jokes

2. Facebook is testing a new feature intended
to stop users accidentally falling victim to
satirical websites like the Onion, hoping
that tagging articles could stop users
accidentally believing joke stories.

3. If any of the users that are selected for the
trial click through to a piece from the
Onion and then go back to Facebook, the
related stories that show beneath the link
when users return will then feature a tag
marking it out as satire.

4. We are running a small test which shows
the text '[Satire]' in front of links to
satirical articles in the related articles unit
in News Feed,” a Facebook
spokesperson told Ars Technica. “This is
because we received feedback that
people wanted a clearer way to
distinguish satirical articles from others in
these units."

5. Facebook said that the test had been
happening for over a month and did not
say whether the tag would be used on
content from different websites,
according to the statement.
Other sites, like the Onion’s BuzzFeed
parody Clickhole, do not pick up the tag.
The New Yorker’s Borowitz Report is
also often mistaken for real news.

6. Stories from The Onion can appear real to
many Facebook users, leading to the
kinds of responses collected by Literally
Unbelievable, a blog of comments
outraged by the site’s stories. (Recent
controversies include responses to the
Onion’s story about a 9,600 mile long
rollercoaster, including users wondering
about how to take toilet breaks.)

7. Even news outlets have occasionally fallen
victim to the Onion’s articles, as when
ScienceNews last month mistakenly
discussed an article written by the
website.
Facebook received criticism in June when it
revealed that it had been manipulating
some users’ news feeds to make them
happy or sad, and some commentators
speculated that the website may still be
feeling the need to instil confidence in the
timeline.

8. Resources:
http://www.mogicons.com/
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/
gadgets-and-tech/news/facebook-to-flag-
satirical-articles-to-stop-users-falling-for-
the-onions-jokes-9674483.html

9. TThhaannkk yyoouu ffoorr rreeaaddiinngg!!

10. TThhaannkk yyoouu ffoorr rreeaaddiinngg!!