This.
June 20, 2016 11:18 AM   Subscribe

“Study: 70% of Facebook users only read the headline of science stories before commenting.”
If you won't click AND READ that link, how about this one? (WaPo) Yes, it was satire, but there is a real study, which is just as depressing (via Neatorama.com's 'Miss Cellania', the most reliable source on the Internet. Really.)
posted by oneswellfoop (33 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Only 70%?
posted by entropicamericana at 11:20 AM on June 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


TLDR :-P (sorry)
posted by nikoniko at 11:20 AM on June 20, 2016 [3 favorites]




70%? I haven't read the article yet, but... *electric shock* "Auugghhh!"
posted by Devils Rancher at 11:29 AM on June 20, 2016 [6 favorites]


I read the body of this post before I commented, but I didn't read the links to the sensational link titles...
posted by Nanukthedog at 11:29 AM on June 20, 2016


If things are behind paywalls, I click off pretty quickly, WaPo.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 11:30 AM on June 20, 2016 [4 favorites]


I like how they immediately switch the 70% from only reading the headline to only reading the article
posted by sineater at 11:32 AM on June 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


Hell, I don't even read my comments before commenting.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:34 AM on June 20, 2016 [18 favorites]


I take issue with that third paragraph.
posted by bondcliff at 11:36 AM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


I kind of agree that it seems a bit sad but when you consider that some of these great unwashed headline readers, say 20 years ago, would have been watching Golden Girls reruns for 6 hours straight, then maybe reading actual text words about actual human beings somewhere else on earth is an improvement.

Frankly, I think superficial link culture is kind of an understandable, if feeble, way of coping with the infomaniacal bombardment that is endless scrolling, gamification, link bait, ubiquitous screens, updates and just general information glut that constitute cynical ad-based digital media today.
posted by mr.ersatz at 11:44 AM on June 20, 2016 [5 favorites]


Could this be the key to explaining what's going on when I put a link here to some fantastically obscure youtube video that has like 200 views, and then my comment gets 12 favorites but the youtube view count only goes up by 4? Or is it one of the 68 percent of statistics that are completely meaningless? Perhaps the best way to find out is to share the link with all my friends.
posted by sfenders at 11:54 AM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


I sometimes favourite FPPs to encourage certain post types (well written; good content without being an undigestable megapost, etc.) even though I'm not actually interested in that particular content.
posted by Mitheral at 12:08 PM on June 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


I sometimes favourite FPPs to remind myself that the video looks interesting and I'm planning to watch it later.
posted by Too-Ticky at 12:10 PM on June 20, 2016 [5 favorites]


I've noticed an awful lot of commentators on my Facebook threads reacting to headlines without RTFA.
posted by doctornemo at 12:14 PM on June 20, 2016


I suppose the elementum mauris was to be expected, but frankly, I wouldn't go so far as to say that id feugiat nulla. However, I don't mind wading through thoughtful similes if the condescension isn't so thick that it makes me dizzy.

I'm double cursed in Geezerland: I'm old, and I neither tweet nor text. My son patronizes me when I send email--oh, he tries to be kind, but I get it. You guys think this is funny? Get off my lawn.
posted by mule98J at 12:15 PM on June 20, 2016 [3 favorites]


It's Obama's fault..whatever it is...
posted by HuronBob at 12:21 PM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


I think the first link was mostly copied from other sources.
posted by TedW at 12:26 PM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


Vestibulum vitae odio nec sapien

I have said this so many times, but people just don't listen.
posted by bongo_x at 12:28 PM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


Etrigan: Why Doesn't America Read Anymore?

"And for our next segment, our intrepid reporter joins us live from YE OLDE MOUNTAIN OF POWERFULLY SMELLY AND UTTERLY INEDIBLE SHIT, to ask a question that has mystified experts: Why are local residents eating less?"
posted by koeselitz at 12:28 PM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


This is clearly an 'gotcha' type article to target Facebook users, who I'm sure are used to quickly browsing lots of content before passing on stuff that seems relevant to family and friends. Nobody even considered that lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam consectetur ipsum sit amet sem vestibulum eleifend. Donec sed metus nisi. Quisque ultricies nulla a risus facilisis vestibulum. Ut luctus feugiat nisi, eget molestie magna faucibus vitae. It only works once, and then everyone's in on the trick. It's like the dancing bear thing. So I don't really see the problem. It's kind of a cheap trick.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:48 PM on June 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


Perhaps Facebook users are so scientifically literate and perspicacious that they hardly ever need to read the story to know it's bullshit. "New paper claims that the EM Drive doesn't defy Newton's 3rd law after all."
posted by sfenders at 12:56 PM on June 20, 2016


It's (mostly) all greek to me
posted by hal9k at 1:11 PM on June 20, 2016


MetaFilter: 70% of Facebook users only read the headline of science stories before commenting.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 2:02 PM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


[right-clicks link to story]

[selects Save To Pocket]

[never reads]
posted by ArmandoAkimbo at 2:23 PM on June 20, 2016 [6 favorites]


At first glance I thought this might be a profile of the new social-ish network, This. which has a novel approach to the problem: users can only post a single link a day.
posted by Gin and Broadband at 2:47 PM on June 20, 2016 [3 favorites]


what else does it say in the article
i'm important and working on something important
tia
also it's bullshit
fyi
posted by aydeejones at 6:08 PM on June 20, 2016 [2 favorites]


I sometimes favourite FPPs to remind myself that the video looks interesting and I'm planning to watch it later.

Same, but I have never once watched the video later.
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:15 PM on June 20, 2016


It's Obama's fault..whatever it is...

You skipped straight to the comments? You MONSTER!
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:17 PM on June 20, 2016


mr.ersatz: "I kind of agree that it seems a bit sad but when you consider that some of these great unwashed headline readers, say 20 years ago, would have been watching Golden Girls reruns for 6 hours straight, then maybe reading actual text words about actual human beings somewhere else on earth is an improvement."

...Yeah, but this is the one with the Miami theme song competition!
posted by Chrysostom at 8:40 PM on June 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


I have several friends that seem to lean rightward politically, and I don't have to read any of their posts or linked articles to know that its bullshit.
posted by sfts2 at 10:22 PM on June 20, 2016


I kind of agree that it seems a bit sad but when you consider that some of these great unwashed headline readers, say 20 years ago, would have been watching Golden Girls reruns for 6 hours straight

Twenty years ago it woulda been Friends and Frasier reruns, actually. I was there. It's only the ubiquity of certain sitcoms from the past that have come back as zombie sitcoms that makes it seem like they were that ubiquitous in their time. There have literally never been as many Golden Girls reruns on TV as there are now. Never. Same with Roseanne, Sanford and Son, etc.
posted by blucevalo at 7:22 AM on June 21, 2016


What percentage of Facebook users stop reading after the headline of woo-related stories? Once I see David Advocado Wolf, I'm outta there.
posted by Biblio at 11:33 AM on June 21, 2016


Well if that doesn't just lorem my ipsums.
posted by sourwookie at 4:57 PM on June 21, 2016 [1 favorite]


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