Post by riutse on Aug 2, 2008 13:23:17 GMT -5
Scientific Study Shows 75% of Internet Users Believe a Story Without Fully Reading it:
This was a study that was performed from March last year, up until March this year. During the time they collected over 3 million reponses to a several fake news stories that were put on the internet, here's the quoted article:
Wow I dun believe it.
This was a study that was performed from March last year, up until March this year. During the time they collected over 3 million reponses to a several fake news stories that were put on the internet, here's the quoted article:
How well do you read a news story? According to a recent study, it may not be well enough. The study took place from the 5th March 2007, up until the 8th March 2008. With the results of the study being released today. The project has been criticized as being a "waste of time" by fellow scientists, but we were assured that with this astonishing final result, naysayers will be silenced. The result? 75% of internet users believe a story, without fully reading, or understanding it.
Of course that isn't all, they also noticed that the longer a story is, the less likely the user is to read it fully. Instead, they will read the title, and perhaps the first few lines, or a paragraph. From that they will be confident in their own deductions and claim to understand the news story in it's entirety. The study also showed that of the 75% guilty of this, 50% had a comment on the story that caused controversy. This comment would either take parts of the story out of context, add their own spin on it, or purely be a complete falcity.
The study was conducted by members of the Berlin Philharmonic University. A prestigious university that ranks top 10 in the world. Senior Professor - Wolfgang Amadeus Makart claimed that doing this study, was putting his entire career at risk.
"When you decide you're going to do a study like this, it can really backfire. This is not the sort of thing that the scientific community takes very seriously, but I decided that I wanted to prove them wrong, and I'm sure this is going to turn some heads."
His prized student, Ludwig von Bearhaten had nothing but praise for his teacher.
"He's an incredible man, a genius. He started performing scientific studies at the age of 5, and has produced over 600 to date. I believe that this study is the crowning achievement of his entire career, and I'm honoured to have worked under him in this endeavor."
A fellow professor at the University - Sigmund Fraat hypothesised that it was a psychological effect that caused internet users to display this unusual behaviour.
"The average internet user was abused as a child, this abuse took place mostly when the user wasn't learning enough. That's all the user wants to get back to, he wants his father to notice that he didn't learn a piece, and can't wait for him to drop his trousers. It's extremely common."
Mr. Fraad urged users to stop the behaviour, or it may end badly. He also hypothesised that the least read part to a story would be the middle section. Apparently a writer could write complete nonsense, and only a few would notice. He urged those that noticed not to give the game away, because it could be funny, but asked them to play along by making a comparison to dinosaurs in their comments.
Naturally of course, this study isn't without it's critics. President Augustus of San Marino was certainly not impressed at all.
"Why do these know it alls decide to perform studies in the most useless areas on earth? We have global warming barking at our door, threatening to kill us all. We have North and South Korea on the verge of firing nuclear missiles at the west, and the United States of America is in a major food crisis and in need of humanitarian aid. Why on earth did they decide to see how stupid internet users are?"
Latest reports from internet users suggests that they don't actually care. The group called "Anonymous", famous for being the terrorist group that is hassling Scientology denied the study completely. We could not get an interview with the spokesperson, nor could we get to even talk to him via the phone. Instead we were sent a series of cryptic e-mails.
It seems that significant though this finding is, it shouldn't have an effect on the daily lives of internet goers. It is thought that those aged 12-21 were the biggest culprits. They were the ones who had the largest emotional response, and were expected to try and post at the first possible chance with their opinions on the story. Out of all the places that the study was performed, it was declared that "internet forums" were the biggest culprits. A dangerous subculture, and internet fad of "threadshitting" basically guaranteed that at least half of the posters in the thread would post without even reading the article. This of course was in a vain attempt to gain respect over the internet from their peers, a precious commodity I was told.
Makart had this closing comment on those.
"These are the people that are the most important in this study. The ones that are actually directly cheapening the effect of news over the internet, I call out for every single person to stop this foolish behaviour, before 75% ends up being 100%."
The study is set to be released into the public domain in the coming weeks. Until then you can attend seminars that explain the study, if you are interested, you can see if your city is one of the destinations by checking at the City Hall.
Of course that isn't all, they also noticed that the longer a story is, the less likely the user is to read it fully. Instead, they will read the title, and perhaps the first few lines, or a paragraph. From that they will be confident in their own deductions and claim to understand the news story in it's entirety. The study also showed that of the 75% guilty of this, 50% had a comment on the story that caused controversy. This comment would either take parts of the story out of context, add their own spin on it, or purely be a complete falcity.
The study was conducted by members of the Berlin Philharmonic University. A prestigious university that ranks top 10 in the world. Senior Professor - Wolfgang Amadeus Makart claimed that doing this study, was putting his entire career at risk.
"When you decide you're going to do a study like this, it can really backfire. This is not the sort of thing that the scientific community takes very seriously, but I decided that I wanted to prove them wrong, and I'm sure this is going to turn some heads."
His prized student, Ludwig von Bearhaten had nothing but praise for his teacher.
"He's an incredible man, a genius. He started performing scientific studies at the age of 5, and has produced over 600 to date. I believe that this study is the crowning achievement of his entire career, and I'm honoured to have worked under him in this endeavor."
A fellow professor at the University - Sigmund Fraat hypothesised that it was a psychological effect that caused internet users to display this unusual behaviour.
"The average internet user was abused as a child, this abuse took place mostly when the user wasn't learning enough. That's all the user wants to get back to, he wants his father to notice that he didn't learn a piece, and can't wait for him to drop his trousers. It's extremely common."
Mr. Fraad urged users to stop the behaviour, or it may end badly. He also hypothesised that the least read part to a story would be the middle section. Apparently a writer could write complete nonsense, and only a few would notice. He urged those that noticed not to give the game away, because it could be funny, but asked them to play along by making a comparison to dinosaurs in their comments.
Naturally of course, this study isn't without it's critics. President Augustus of San Marino was certainly not impressed at all.
"Why do these know it alls decide to perform studies in the most useless areas on earth? We have global warming barking at our door, threatening to kill us all. We have North and South Korea on the verge of firing nuclear missiles at the west, and the United States of America is in a major food crisis and in need of humanitarian aid. Why on earth did they decide to see how stupid internet users are?"
Latest reports from internet users suggests that they don't actually care. The group called "Anonymous", famous for being the terrorist group that is hassling Scientology denied the study completely. We could not get an interview with the spokesperson, nor could we get to even talk to him via the phone. Instead we were sent a series of cryptic e-mails.
It seems that significant though this finding is, it shouldn't have an effect on the daily lives of internet goers. It is thought that those aged 12-21 were the biggest culprits. They were the ones who had the largest emotional response, and were expected to try and post at the first possible chance with their opinions on the story. Out of all the places that the study was performed, it was declared that "internet forums" were the biggest culprits. A dangerous subculture, and internet fad of "threadshitting" basically guaranteed that at least half of the posters in the thread would post without even reading the article. This of course was in a vain attempt to gain respect over the internet from their peers, a precious commodity I was told.
Makart had this closing comment on those.
"These are the people that are the most important in this study. The ones that are actually directly cheapening the effect of news over the internet, I call out for every single person to stop this foolish behaviour, before 75% ends up being 100%."
The study is set to be released into the public domain in the coming weeks. Until then you can attend seminars that explain the study, if you are interested, you can see if your city is one of the destinations by checking at the City Hall.
Wow I dun believe it.
