Facebook wants users to rate "misleading language" in articles

PanARMENIAN.Net - A survey asking users about “misleading language” in posts is the latest indication that Facebook is facing up to what many see as its responsibility to get a handle on the fake news situation. At least part of its solution, it seems, is to ask users what they think is fake, TechCrunch says.

The “Facebook Survey,” noticed by Chris Krewson of Philadelphia’s Billy Penn, accompanied (for him) a Philadelphia Inquirer article about the firing of a well-known nut vendor for publicly espousing white nationalist views.

“To what extent do you think that this link’s title uses misleading language?” asks the “survey,” which appears directly below the article. Response choices range from “Not at all” to “Completely,” though users can also choose to dismiss it or just scroll past.

Facebook confirmed to TechCrunch that this is an official effort, though it did not answer several probing questions about how it works, how the data is used and retained, and so on. The company uses surveys somewhat like this to test the general quality of the news feed, and it has used other metrics to attempt to define rules for finding clickbait and fake stories. This appears to be the first direct coupling of those two practices: old parts doing a new job.