The Internet has provided a world of instant news. Instant answers. Instant gratification. But with it comes a shorter attention span, and impatience.
It seems that because information arrives increasingly quickly and easily, we often pay less attention to it. So much so that many people fail to get past even a headline. And as this week has shown, they even often get that wrong as well.
Check out the followed headline printed by fake news website EmpireNews this week – “Actress Betty White, 93, Dyes Peacefully In Her Los Angeles Home”.
Something isn’t right about that. They spelled ‘dyes’ wrong, it should be dies? Right?
Wrong. Because Betty White is still alive, and for those few that managed to stumble pass the headline into the article itself would realise, since the entire article was about how Betty White dyes her hair, at her L.A. house, peacefully.
Despite that, many have taken to Twitter and other social media websites after reading the article – or rather the headline – to express their condolences at her apparent passing. And thus the rumour begins, with others misinterpreting the headline, and others simply passing on unverified information without researching for themselves.
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The first paragraph of the EmpireNews ‘Betty White dyes..’ article –
In a press release from her long-time manager Jeff Witjas, it has been confirmed today that actress Betty White, best known for her roles on TVs The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Golden Girls, and Hot in Cleveland, is not a natural blonde.
It’s just a clear demonstration of how easy it is to spark online nonsense using our own impatient nature and lack of any attention span against us.
Has Betty White dyed in peace? Yes probably. Whilst we don’t know if she prefers a peaceful setting or even if she dyes her hair in her house, we can assume given that she’s 93 and often sporting a healthy looking blonde head of hair, she probably does dyes it.
But she’s alive and well, and we should all read past the headlines.
Keep up with fake news websites at our ThatsFake.com website here.