#100hardtruths

#47: good design and software mask bad credibility

In “Facebook and Google make lies as pretty as truth: how AMP and instant articles camoflauge fake news” Kyle Chayka writes: “platforms like Google AMP, Facebook Instant Articles, and Apple News are also further breaking down the relationship between good design and credibility. In a platform world, all publishers end up looking more similar than different. That makes separating the real from the fake even harder.”

He continues: “Websites that operate on these homogenizing platforms, whether they offer real news or fake, exist under the same digital gloss no matter their production budget, which presents a problem for upscale publishers wanting to stand out … What happens when questionable news sources enter the walled and manicured gardens of Google, Facebook, and Apple’s proprietary publishing systems? An increasing volume of readers experience articles through these mobile masks. AMP now represents 10 to 15 percent of publisher search traffic, according to an October Define Media report … readers are left with the necessity of divining from headline format and copy-editing alone if a publisher is pushing a legitimate story or promulgating an outright lie.”

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