Reality IS Satire
November 17, 2015 8:44 AM Subscribe
Real or Satire? Copy and paste any article URL. They'll tell you if it's satire. A useful tool for your easily-fooled neighbors.
And you can trust them. They're real. Here's another example.
And you can trust them. They're real. Here's another example.
Despite Breitbart himself having the reputation of being a despicable person — or at least having a despicable public persona — www.breitbart.com is no more or less horrible than any other news site with a specific agenda.
Sa-wing and a miss.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:01 AM on November 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
Sa-wing and a miss.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:01 AM on November 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
Counterexample: This War Will Destabilize The Entire Mideast Region And Set Off A Global Shockwave Of Anti-Americanism vs. No It Won’t
posted by zombieflanders at 9:03 AM on November 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by zombieflanders at 9:03 AM on November 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
Sometimes it's hard to tell if something is satire even if it comes from the Onion.
posted by surazal at 9:30 AM on November 17, 2015
posted by surazal at 9:30 AM on November 17, 2015
On my one attempt, using a satirical article, the site returned: "Nothing found".
I've submitted it... I assume they'll get it correct. At first I was thinking it was some sort of fancy algorithm, but it's just people*.
*totally not being dismissive of people, actually impressed that people are doing this; this was just a joke.
posted by Laura in Canada at 9:38 AM on November 17, 2015
I've submitted it... I assume they'll get it correct. At first I was thinking it was some sort of fancy algorithm, but it's just people*.
*totally not being dismissive of people, actually impressed that people are doing this; this was just a joke.
posted by Laura in Canada at 9:38 AM on November 17, 2015
They need a third category: "Real, Bullsh!t or Satire"?
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:51 AM on November 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:51 AM on November 17, 2015 [5 favorites]
I also got a "Nothing Found" for the article I entered, but maybe this will only get better if we help it grow, so I submitted it. But then they asked for my name and email and said they're signing me up for a Real Or Satire Newsletter. Which 1) why would I need a newsletter for that specific thing, and 2) now I'm wondering if this is another SEO tactic, not too different from the sites it's purporting to expose.
posted by naju at 10:08 AM on November 17, 2015
posted by naju at 10:08 AM on November 17, 2015
I hate that so much bad satire gets posted on facebook and elsewhere as if the poster believed it was actual news. Very often, I see this from my liberal friends, who will post some NEWSLO (the worst offender) article like "Palin Suggests Settling Syrian Refugees On Arctic Alaskan Islands If They “Accept Jesus Christ As Their Real Savior” and people will read it, and be offended that Sarah Palin said that, and reply to the post about how awful Sarah Palin is, and the thing is Sarah Palin has said so much stupid shit that there is no need to make up fake stupid shit that she has said. And there are no hints in these articles that this is not actually stupid shit that Sarah Palin said. It's just a made up story about stupid shit that Palin said. It's just a lie. What's the fucking point? Lying is not satire.
The Onion is maybe the only satirical news outlet that does this sort of thing well. They usually balance the plausible with the outrageous in such a way that it's funny, and that it's unmistakeably satire. Occasionally, people who don't read the article very carefully may believe something from The Onion is true, but mostly they hit that balance pretty well.
posted by Cookiebastard at 10:22 AM on November 17, 2015 [6 favorites]
The Onion is maybe the only satirical news outlet that does this sort of thing well. They usually balance the plausible with the outrageous in such a way that it's funny, and that it's unmistakeably satire. Occasionally, people who don't read the article very carefully may believe something from The Onion is true, but mostly they hit that balance pretty well.
posted by Cookiebastard at 10:22 AM on November 17, 2015 [6 favorites]
It looks like the site's "algorithm" consists solely of a list of known domains, with a satire/not satire tag appended to each. It would be nice to see something based more on the Snopes/FactCheck.org model, with specific articles or factual claims being submitted to a satire/not satire database and evaluated accordingly.
posted by Strange Interlude at 10:37 AM on November 17, 2015
posted by Strange Interlude at 10:37 AM on November 17, 2015
What's the word for when you act as if you're an authority on something and it's very quickly revealed that all you've got is a Web 2.0 interface and a very small set of feeble facts?
posted by benito.strauss at 10:39 AM on November 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by benito.strauss at 10:39 AM on November 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
And there are no hints in these articles that this is not actually stupid shit that Sarah Palin said. It's just a made up story about stupid shit that Palin said. It's just a lie. What's the fucking point? Lying is not satire.
And the way it usually plays out is that some commenter is brave enough to point out that the story isn't true, at which point the OP will say something to the effect that "yeah, but the scary thing is that it's totally something that the person WOULD say". Everyone concurs, face has been saved, and we move on to the next untrue thing.
posted by Crane Shot at 11:12 AM on November 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
And the way it usually plays out is that some commenter is brave enough to point out that the story isn't true, at which point the OP will say something to the effect that "yeah, but the scary thing is that it's totally something that the person WOULD say". Everyone concurs, face has been saved, and we move on to the next untrue thing.
posted by Crane Shot at 11:12 AM on November 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
And there are no hints in these articles that this is not actually stupid shit that Sarah Palin said. It's just a made up story about stupid shit that Palin said. It's just a lie. What's the fucking point? Lying is not satire.
This example isn't satire of Sarah Palin, no. But one could probably make a case that it can function as a sort of satire of people's willingness to unskeptically believe headlines they see on social media.
posted by DiscountDeity at 12:01 PM on November 17, 2015
This example isn't satire of Sarah Palin, no. But one could probably make a case that it can function as a sort of satire of people's willingness to unskeptically believe headlines they see on social media.
posted by DiscountDeity at 12:01 PM on November 17, 2015
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