Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
How We Use The News
Noticed something interesting while perusing The State's website this morning and it made me wonder how people read and react to the news each day.
The most read story was Ron Morris talking about USC's running game. The most commented on story was a day-old piece about Vincent Sheheen taking Nikki Haley to task in the governor's race. The most recommended was a story on the state's leading environmental attorney passing away.
Three entirely different stories. Three entirely different headings. Intrigued, I wondered what other papers were doing. At the Greenville News (yes, I have an online subscription and I like it), the most commented on and most recommended were a letter to the editor about the GOP undermining economic gains. The News doesn't list the most read.
The Charleston Post and Courier most commented on story is about South Carolinians being lazy. There's an irony there that even Alanis Morrisette could figure out. The most e-mailed story was on I-26 traffic problems.
What does this say about our online consumption of the news. I admit I like reading the comments and if I see a story with a lot of comments I will click on it. I figured either the story was interesting or at least the comments sections were better. I don't think I have ever commented. It makes me wonder why people will read one story and be compelled to give notice. Is it empowerment? Is is a quest for knowledge? Is it neither?
How do you read the news?
The most read story was Ron Morris talking about USC's running game. The most commented on story was a day-old piece about Vincent Sheheen taking Nikki Haley to task in the governor's race. The most recommended was a story on the state's leading environmental attorney passing away.
Three entirely different stories. Three entirely different headings. Intrigued, I wondered what other papers were doing. At the Greenville News (yes, I have an online subscription and I like it), the most commented on and most recommended were a letter to the editor about the GOP undermining economic gains. The News doesn't list the most read.
The Charleston Post and Courier most commented on story is about South Carolinians being lazy. There's an irony there that even Alanis Morrisette could figure out. The most e-mailed story was on I-26 traffic problems.
What does this say about our online consumption of the news. I admit I like reading the comments and if I see a story with a lot of comments I will click on it. I figured either the story was interesting or at least the comments sections were better. I don't think I have ever commented. It makes me wonder why people will read one story and be compelled to give notice. Is it empowerment? Is is a quest for knowledge? Is it neither?
How do you read the news?
Don't believe everything you read
Two days, I noticed a lot of my friends were posting that July 5, 2010 was the day that Marty McFly and Doc Brown blasted into the future in the movie, Back to the Future. Ivanka Trump isn't one of my friends, but she posted it as well. This was getting around. People were celebrating it as "Future Day." These were smart, web savvy people.
It was a hoax. A company altered a screen shot from the movie and put an e-mail out there. It spread quickly and people fell for it. Makes you think. Or at least it should make you think. People are now spreading news faster than ever before, yet what are they really spreading?
Back in the early days of the Web being public ( aka the mid-1990s), I remember there was a mantra out there not to trust web information. Check it three times before believing it because there were no controls over content. A decade and a half later, that has reversed. People believe every thing they read on blogs, web forums and twitter feeds. Mainstream news (aka edited work) is met with extreme caution now.
What do you believe?
It was a hoax. A company altered a screen shot from the movie and put an e-mail out there. It spread quickly and people fell for it. Makes you think. Or at least it should make you think. People are now spreading news faster than ever before, yet what are they really spreading?
Back in the early days of the Web being public ( aka the mid-1990s), I remember there was a mantra out there not to trust web information. Check it three times before believing it because there were no controls over content. A decade and a half later, that has reversed. People believe every thing they read on blogs, web forums and twitter feeds. Mainstream news (aka edited work) is met with extreme caution now.
What do you believe?
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