You know that moment where you're just browsing through your newsfeed, scrolling through all the status updates, selfies, and funny cat videos, when suddenly you see a shared link with a headline that makes you scream “WHAT?!” inside your head?
If the headline is too ludicrous for your own sanity, chances are that article is from a satirical blog. Satirical blogs are websites that produce articles that mimic and poke fun at current news by injecting exaggerated information, and is often presented with deadpan humor. They're growing wildly popular nowadays, thanks to social media which have proven to be a fertile ground for harvesting more pageviews through clickbait headlines.
Just recently, people have been outraged by an article that claims that there was human meat found in a McDonald's meat factory. *Cue buzzer sound* FALSE. And that article which 'reported' that Samsung paid Apple $1.05Million USD by sending 30 truckloads of five-cent coins to Apple's headquarters? Also false.
People are so easily duped by these satirical headlines that even our local news organizations fall for it. And because so much fake news have been circulating social media lately, Facebook has recently announced that it's planning to add a “satire” tag to articles that come from some popular satire blogs to help its users identify fake news from the real ones.
Many have tried to dissect why people can't seem to tell apart satire from legitimate news. Why are we so gullible? Is it the lack of education? Sense of humor? Pride? Whatever the cause is, people need to learn one important thing: THINK BEFORE YOU SHARE. Before you go about ranting about a particular article you've found on your news feed, make sure it's real.
Here are some easy steps you can take to check if an article is fake or real:
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Check out the source
Read the 'About Us' page of the website where you found the article. Satire blogs often have disclaimers in their pages to let you know that what you're reading is a parody or completely made up. -
Google the article
Check if more legitimate news sources have reported on that particular topic. -
THINK BEFORE YOU SHARE/REACT
Are you absolutely sure that you want to voice out those opinions over something that might not even be true?
To help you make smarter “share” decisions, here's a list of some of the most popular satirical blogs in the country.
Satirical blogs in the Philippines:
“Our aim is to inject humor into everyday news to provide respite to readers who have grown weary with mainstream news organization’s partisan, biased and depressing way of presenting the news.”
Sample headlines:
Lawmaker Files Bill Officially Declaring Piolo Pascual as ‘National Ultimate Heartthrob’
‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2′ Cancelled in the Philippines Due to Kris Interview
“Your source of up-to-date, unbelievable news. Everything you read on this site is based on fact, except for the lies.”
Sample headlines:
U.S. Announces ‘NO Visa’ Policy For Filipinos
Philippines Disqualified From Beauty Pageants For The Next Two Years
The Professional Heckler is a humor blog that mainly tackles Philippine politics.
Sample headlines:
“What we do is offer a lighter alternative to delivering the most pertinent issues of the day which, when heard, read, or viewed from mainstream news organizations, makes you want to sit in one corner, hug your knees, cry, and slash your wrists.”
Sample headlines:
Filipino worthless In Call Centers says CHED
Recording studio to be added to Sen. Revilla’s jail cell
“Philippine News — objective, hard-hitting, questionable”
Although Mosquito Press hasn't published a new post since last year, the satirical blog should still be on your “satires to watch out for” list as it might just resurrect in time for the coming elections.
Sample headlines:
Harvard study finds that Filipinos are the world’s most gullible people
CBCP releases master list of everything they disapprove of
Other satirical websites:
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The Onion
The Onion is an American entertainment website that runs satirical articles about international and local news. Remember that widespread rumor about how Harry Potter encouraged Satanic worship among kids back in early 2000? Well, that article originated from The Onion. -
The Daily Currant
The Daily Currant is an international online newspaper which satirizes current events in politics, business, culture, science, and the media. Were you one of those who were outraged by the news of a Muslim company forcing its women employees to wear headscarf? You got fooled.
Have you been fooled by a satirical blog? Got something to say about increasing gullibility of people? Share it in the comments section.
