On Facebook, have you been recently flagging content as false? Next time, make sure that before you click that report button, you double-check if the post is, in fact, untrue. Why? Because Facebook is quietly rating you too.
In an effort to control the spread of false news, Facebook confirmed that it has been noting and assigning scores to users who have been reporting content as misinformation. The company takes this data into account as a reference for the future times that a user will be flagging another story or content. Facebook said that this only applies to people who report posts as fake, and is meant to identify users who flag without proper reason. Project manager Tessa Lyons explained that it is not uncommon for them to receive false reports simply because they disagree with a story, or that they are intentionally vandalising a publisher.
Facebook has also already begun ranking news outlets by trustworthiness. It aims to feature the more reputable outlets more frequently than their less-reliable counterparts so that the information spread to the public is more likely to be true.
So there you have it. The next time you're about to click that report button, do take some time to research if that story is, indeed, untrue. If the content is confirmed by Facebook to be misinformation, you gain reputation. In the same sense, if most of your reports are deemed baseless, then your credibility will suffer.
Remember: think before you click.
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