On April Fool’s day, NPR had an extremely simple joke that turned out to be an incredibly effective demonstration of how much commenters on Facebook actually read of the articles they comment on.
The post was simple:
Except if you actually clicked through you got this:
Congratulations, genuine readers, and happy April Fools’ Day!
We sometimes get the sense that some people are commenting on NPR stories that they haven’t actually read. If you are reading this, please like this post and do not comment on it. Then let’s see what people have to say about this “story.”
Best wishes and have an enjoyable day,
Your friends at NPR
And of course, it worked like a charm, with several commenters even blaming video games. The anger at being accused of not reading, and the theories about why are both fun to read:
Luckily, there were some people who got the joke, although as one commenter pointed out, many couldn’t help but spoil it (which somehow didn’t stop more people from commenting):
And some took the joke and ran with it:
So remember next time you see something that gets you riled up on the internet: It’s hard to fit the full story in a headline!
Comments
14 responses to “A Reminder That Not Everyone Reads Before Commenting”
I think this about sums it up
http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120921164818/dragonage/images/thumb/2/2a/Anchorman-well-that-escalated-quickly.jpg/500px-Anchorman-well-that-escalated-quickly.jpg
TLDR; but seriously, people need to stop picking on America. a lot of crazy stuff happens there and it may seem like it’s all bad, but there are still a lot of smart people there who obviously read. smh.
Can’t tell if trolling or legitimate.
I’m just that good.
Can’t tell if trolling or false prophet.
How dare you accuse me of not reading an article before commenting! I read this article, and it is clear that you are insulting my intelligence!
I never learnt how to read, only to write. My ability to take in new information stopped when I became an adult, now I can only regurgitate what I already know. Whenever people speak, I’m only waiting for my turn to share my views. I only listen to opinions that I already agree with.
Seriously though, I love the prank, but I understand why people take article titles as a TL:DR summary most of the time – There’s just so much information in the world today that to fully read and consider everything is impossible. It’s just kind of sad that it doesn’t stop them from putting forward their comments and adding to the noise.
No, I’m sorry I can’t agree with this at all. The point of the article was about those rushing to type an answer out without reading the article itself, as it happens ALL the time on Kotaku for instance. I myself have done it once or twice (and been pulled up and embarassed by it a few years back on, of all things, a Patricia Hernandez article O_O ) My point is, if you are going to click something and respond, do your research. *READ* the article. If you think there’s too much information, shut down your computer, walk outside and get off the damned internet because that’s all that’s there and there’s just gonna be more tomorrow. But outside, there’s a pleasant world that only gives you information as far as your eyes can see, ears can hear etc.
If you’re going to type on a forum though, read the article first. Because if you don’t, you’re doing yourself a disservice.
I totally agree with you about the importance of unplugging now and then. I just came back from a lovely walk past rolling hills and sleepy cows, beautiful!
The sentence directly after the one you quoted was also pretty important to what I was saying though – as in: It’s fine to skim articles because it’s impossible to read them all, just don’t think that gives you enough information to comment on them. – so perhaps we do actually agree.
None of the ‘you’re’s in that were directly aimed at you incidentally, I wasn’t giving a sermon, tho it probably came across that way lol.
Watermelons are green and have black seeds thought the champagne variety is different.
🙂
I disagree, as a mother I think this article and the internet should be banned.
OMG I CANT BELIEVE YOURE ON HERE! You’re a mother? GET BACK AND LOOK AFTER YOUR CHILDREN! YOU……wait I’m jumping the gun aren’t I…
tl:dr
If I look past the point of the article, I’m just as baffled as to why so many commentors actually considered their individual, personal experiences to be absolute evidence that disproves a puportedly well-researched study of an entire nation.
Because humans.
Also the psychology behind this is pretty well documented, basically we’re lazy, generally suck at empathy (and more and more studies suggest we’re getting worse at this one! Yay Narcisisstic society ho!) and prefer to use gut feelings over logic. So yeah, because humans, scientific method too complex.
I blame Tony Abbott… Wait… Not the Sydney Morning Herald page…. Damn