Facebook announced today that it is testing a new way to encourage informed sharing of new articles. Using an approach similar to Twitter, Facebook will begin suggesting that users read an article before sharing it.
This function comes a few months after Twitter did the same. Facebook's approach is really simple: When a user wants to share a link to a news article they haven't opened yet, the social network displays a prompt that encourages the user to open and read the article before sharing it with others. This isn't Facebook's first attempt to prevent fake news. In 2019, the company detailed how it's trying to prevent lies and hate speech with new partnerships, software, and more.
New Facebook feature aims to combat fake news and other forms of spam
When the user clicks the Share button, he or she will receive the following pop-up:
You are about to share this article without opening it. Sharing articles without reading them can lead to important facts being missed.
The user then has the choice to open the article or share the post. To The Verge explained a Facebook spokesperson:
The test will be rolled out to 6 % of Android users worldwide.
If Facebook follows the short message service Twitter, the social network will soon introduce this function for all users. Whether it will help against fake news and the like remains to be seen. (Photo by bennymarty / Bigstockphoto)
