Everyone has seen this happen – a friend on Facebook, unaware of the nature of publications like The Onion, shares a clearly fake Internet news story under the assumption that it is real. Other connections, who are also not in on the joke, make comments regarding how outrageous the post is and choose to similarly share it with their friends. Upon realizing the piece they have shared is fake, they then bring their grievance up with Facebook itself – and the social network has apparently had enough.
The Guardian reported that Facebook is now affixing a satire tag to stories that are not meant to be taken seriously. Facebook has apparently received enough feedback asking for a clearer distinction that it has elected to provide one.
Guardian contributor Arwa Mahdawi believes that this is a sign of the "death of irony," and that the Internet has played a significant role in its demise.
"The problem with satire in an age of finite attention and infinite content is that it makes you stop and think," Mahdawi wrote. "It interrupts the speed and simplicity of the discover-click-share cycle that makes platforms like Facebook lots of money. By introducing satire tagging, Facebook has helpfully gone some way in eliminating the unhelpful friction of thought and, in doing so, made life easier for us all."
Soon enough, stories like those from the aforementioned Onion will come attached with a satire tag, helpfully alerting unsuspecting profile-surfers as to the nature of what they are about to read. The success of this idea has yet to be known, but at the very least, it's likely to keep newsfeeds just a little bit quieter and, by extension, things just a little less interesting.
