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They're The Ones Spreading Fake News
Anyone who has made the mistake of having both an extended family and a Facebook account knows there's no shortage of fake news out there. Whether it's a blog like RedWhiteAndTrue.com telling them Obama is vaccinating their kids with gay, or a meme that says shit like "Liberals are against Trump's wall, but their own homes have at least four of them!" it's only going to get worse as the next election heats up.
And ironically, while lots of those memes are about young people destroying the world with their Instagram addictions and gender-neutral restrooms, it's the boomers who are ruining society by sharing bullshit. A study found that they are four times as likely to share fake news on Facebook, and twice as likely as the second-oldest age group that was looked at.
It sort of makes sense. Younger people grew up with the internet, and so hopefully are a little more familiar with what viral bullshit looks like. Boomers lived most of their lives without it, and now every single bit of information in the history of humanity, real or otherwise, is at their fingertips. Learning to separate real stuff from troll nonsense can be a process, and it's not even clear that they're trying.
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