Today, we’re going to take a (much-needed) break from reporting on Scott Pruitt and dive into the world of FAKE NEWS™.
The Outline had a fascinating piece last month about a science YouTube channel called Ridddle that has nearly two million subscribers and explainer videos on topics like “if the sun goes out for 24 hours” and “what will happen if a bucket of water is poured on the sun.” The videos have racked up millions and millions of views. The only catch is, the science in the videos is completely wrong.
At a very cursory glance, some of the videos could seem relatively credible. Then you get to things like “The Moon is the Debris of a Spacecraft.” (1.2 million views!)
So what explains the massive spread of this fake science? The Outline’s Jon Christian speculates that perhaps by focusing on science instead of a more controversial topic (read: politics), Ridddle has managed to fly under the radar, unlike, say InfoWars. We don’t have any easy answer, but the spread of fake news on social media seems to plague science.
A recent study in Science showed that on Twitter, fake news about science travels farther and faster than real news. According to the study, the top one percent of fake news reached between 1000 and 100,000 people, whereas the truth made it to more than 1000 people.
The authors of the study also cite massive implications for other social media platforms, including YouTube. People were more likely to share “novel” information online, which might explain why “If You Detonated a Nuclear Bomb In The Marianas Trench” on Ridddle has nearly 14 million views.
Though platforms like Facebook and Google have pledged to tackle the fake news problem, it doesn’t seem like it’s going away anytime soon. So remember: check your sources, question outlandish explainer videos, and stick to the facts.
The truth is out there.