If you call it youthful fancy, you won’t be wrong. The truth is that facebook came because a Mark Zuckerberg co-founded that wonder of the modern world at college, just to actualise his dream of creating a virtual web that would excite mankind, and what a gargantuan world do we have on our hands today. Yes, but this wonder of a virtual world is employed by many criminal minds for their own ends.
The separate of fake news, or more appropriately, alternative facts, because more appealing because spreading the false facts via the virtual world of the internet ensures that it gets to millions and at the same time. Are we correct to conclude that these very fake stories which emanate from fake sites are so spread to:
- To achieve appeal to the emotion
- To manipulate
- To achieve an aim which is to confuse and cajole.
The basic need is that fake news is also known as gutter or yellow journalism and predates the internet age. On Nov 4, 1989, the Tv network of Nigeria, the NTA carried the news about the death of the Great Zik.
At 84 years old then we thought the big man had lived well. A National grief was provoked. Zik went on to live for another 7 years. Needless to add that many notable ndigbo sons who were members of a presumed burial committee died before Zik. In march 2007, late President Yar Ardwa was rumored to have died. Ebenezer Obey was rummorously said to have died. Only 2 days ago, embattled police officer, Abba Kyari was to have been cleared to go back to work.
