Social media accounts dedicated to interesting ‘facts’ often get them wrong

Twitter accounts such as @UberFacts and @OMGFacts have often been proved inaccurate, Poynter’s Alexios Mantzarlis writes, but they embody a larger, more troubling trend: “‘Facts’ are increasingly seen [on social media] as one-line zingers that should, ideally, surprise you into sharing them.” Sometimes the facts promoted by these social media accounts aren’t technically incorrect, but leave out crucial information and context is lost. Mantzarlis writes: “It is also inevitable that brevity results in some approximation: My own Twitter profile is likely littered with tweets no more complete than the ones highlighted above. Yet these accounts take it a step further by vigorously marketing their content as fact, not lightly scrutinized surprising tidbits.”

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from American Press Institute http://ift.tt/22F0zPf