Media mischief, clickbait a huge challenge for modern sports

[9ja Amaka]

I woke up to 3 headlines today.

A Turkish journalist, Burhan Can Terzi, has been detained for allegedly spreading false information after reporting that Jamal Musiala would join Galatasaray. Galatasaray has come out to deny that the information was false.

Ian Wright is fuming over false information linking Myles Lewis-Skelly to Chelsea and Manchester United. Arsenal has spoken about the rumor and has denied there was any link to the England clubs mentioned.

Fabrizio Romano hinted at a shift in his career after the transfer window. He made a statement saying he is not going to continue working in the transfer market for much longer. Thinking of something else after the transfer window.

After reading the news, what crossed my mind is never ending media mischief and clickbait on social media becoming a problem in society. For football fans, you guys would agree with me that this summer has been the most disturbing summer, filled with fake transfer news by monetized influencers. Maybe Fabrizio has decided to quit being a journalist because recently he has been attacked for spreading false rumors.

Solution: To curb this problem, I think the best thing is to arrest fake influencers and journalists spreading false information. Take them to court, and after that, fine them a huge amount so that others will learn.

Furthermore, social media should restrict accounts known for misleading information. A temporary ban or permanent ban of the account for anyone found guilty of it.

What's your take on this?

[Findingnemo]

If we have to ban social media accounts for spreading lies then we have to ban 90% of the accounts on every platform because each one of them is pretending to live who they wish to be, and in this case they just used clickbait, which is not something strange in the media, right?

How about we stop believing in everything that we see on a random post without any official announcement from the player or team involved?

[Ashawowo(OS)]

Solution: To curb this problem, I think the best thing is to arrest fake influencers and journalists spreading false information. Take them to court, and after that, fine them a huge amount so that others will learn.

Furthermore, social media should restrict accounts known for misleading information. A temporary ban or permanent ban of the account for anyone found guilty of it.

What's your take on this?

Social media is now a tool for generating traffic and cashing out big, no one is held accountable for what they promote. False headlines are the least of the crimes of influencers, what of those who advertise fake products that leave their users with lasting consequences?

I doubt social media would do this, especially X, once your account is verified, it is a direct ticket to do as you wish. You don't believe random things you see, there are official channels for correct information.

Influencers don't care what they promote, as long as they get paid, it is already a norm to them. Those who get trapped in the consequence of their actions are those of them that defame powerful people, they are the ones that face the full weight of the law.

[bitbollo]

YKES - I would not say this can be a serious crime to bring people in JAIL!
if they do damage (like reputational or economical) they can just repay for it, I would not see valuable an harsh solution like this.
Moreover in most of the cases they can really share some insights even if these have not been considered officially done...

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

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Furthermore, social media should restrict accounts known for misleading information. A temporary ban or permanent ban of the account for anyone found guilty of it.

Yes, disabling the account of any influencer that spread false information would really be a great punishment that will teach other influencer to verify information first before posting it, but since some social media platforms doesn't take account restrictions so serious in matters like that,  that's why some of those influencers are consistently spreading false information. The only time some social media blocks a user's account is if dozens of people have reported the account. The only social media that I know that took moderation of users activities very serious is Reddit, any slight violation, you are disabled from posting, although I don't know if they are still like that now. But these influencers have different account that they use to post click bait information for the purpose of monetizing their page. If you come across anyone, the best thing you can do is report the account.

[bitLeap]

What's your take on this?

You do not need to be surprised and feel a burden on transfer information like this, because it has become commonplace and as a spectator we do like to be dizzy with uncertain player transfers. But therein lies the thrill where those of us who have no role and no obligation whatsoever with such information become most interested and enthusiastic. While the famous journalists enjoy it as a material to raise their name. Still remember the transfer of Diomande who made 2 journalist Fabrizio Romano with Plettenberg? I guess that's what it sounds like.

[Awaklara]

Solution: To curb this problem, I think the best thing is to arrest fake influencers and journalists spreading false information. Take them to court, and after that, fine them a huge amount so that others will learn.

I think it depends on the laws in each country. But spreading fake or manipulated news can definitely be dealt with legally. However, if no one reports or sues the influencer or the media that published it, everything will just keep going. 
As football fans, we know which media we can trust. And we know there are some people who purposely create news to attract visitors. 
If such regulations were enforced more strictly, it would definitely make media outlets or influencers more careful in publishing information.

[YOSHIE]

Furthermore, social media should restrict accounts known for misleading information. A temporary ban or permanent ban of the account for anyone found guilty of it.

Yes, I am starting to realize that the clickbait phenomenon is supposed to act educationally and objectively, but media sensationalism can be seen as a bad thing which can damage modern sports betting.

Indeed, the information provided by clickbait is completely false and misleading, the content of the news they publish does not match the original, clickbait is more dangerous than we expected.

Another thing that is worst is that the information they develop will actually trigger a flare-up of hostility between groups in sports tournaments, people in general are quite difficult about which is opinion or fabrication.

[promise444c5]

They make money from the views those click bait fetches them.. I mean who would see a rumor a rumor of a start player unexpectedly moving to another a big club  with “agreement and done deal” attached already.

Most social media reports are not videos so the moment you click it , you already engaged with the post, which equals money for them .. what I’m not sure is people paying to spread rumors aswell but either ways, they are still making money.

This is a source btw : https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/40019465/burhan-can-terzi-jamal-musiala-galatasaray-bayern-munich/

“ Gazzetta added that the reporter was let go just a few hours later without any restrictions imposed on him.”

Not really that serious..

[knowngunman]

Furthermore, social media should restrict accounts known for misleading information. A temporary ban or permanent ban of the account for anyone found guilty of it.

What's your take on this?

As long as social media is not critically regulated, this will never end. Unfortunately, it can not be critically regulated everywhere. Whenever there's a bill proposing to regulate social media people kick against it saying it's an attempt to silence them. This is part of the consequences for having unrestricted environment where people can just wake up and write whatever they want knowing it can go far without thinking of it effect.

Some people believe whatever they see on their screen even if it has no verifiable source. Worst of it is sharing the information without verifying it authenticity. The platform can not just restrict user account unless we start reporting such accounts. If there is a high number of people reporting account for posting misleading content, the media platform can remove the content or banned the account but we only complain without taking action from our end.

We can also disregard any information without source.

[YellowSwap]

Drop me your twitter Account if you have one OP, because no one is really free from this, not even myself, there are levels to click bait and mine is Airdrops and casino ads.

It's impossible to start banning accounts because of this, 96% of people will get caught in this web because everything about social media this days is all about click bait.

Serious content creators, traders, stock investors and advisers, every single one of them, let's start from those thumbnails, they are mostly fake, fooling, so that you would click and they get paid for it.

[salad daging]

You do not need to worry about the manipulation of this news because it is from the past there is nothing to worry about, unless you are a bet for example in Polymarket by choosing a player transfer as his bet, then it is natural but still it does not change anything right?

Every influencer or media wants to get the latest news so they put up clickbait to attract the attention of many people, so they can get higher impressions especially social media now there is monetization of course they will do anything even though the rumor is a lie that is reported to the public.

[Judith87403]

If we have to ban social media accounts for spreading lies then we have to ban 90% of the accounts on every platform because each one of them is pretending to live who they wish to be, and in this case they just used clickbait, which is not something strange in the media, right?

How about we stop believing in everything that we see on a random post without any official announcement from the player or team involved?

You're right, inasmuch as social media influencers do help to bring information closer to their audience, it is not every news that we should believe immediately they are made available in the social media space. I know that football journalist like Fabrizio Romano is most time accurate with the news he makes available to the public through his social media handles but it is not enough for us to believe everything without verifying from the teams and players just as you have said. Teams has their official pages on social media, likewise players and I think they do update latest information about them immediately they are confirmed. We should understand that social media channels are not official sites, if we need more substantial information then it wouldn't be wrong to visit official sites.

[danherbias07]

A temporary ban or a permanent ban will just lead to the creation of new accounts to create more fake news. There must be a punishment for it.

I think it's okay to hear a rumor, but finding facts should be their priority, especially if they are known on social media as news anchors or outlets for sports. I have my own list of news reporters that I follow, and most of them do not post rumors that they didn't hear from the team management themselves or the owners of the club. These guys are always updated on what is happening, and sometimes they have the same reports even though they are not on the same channel.

I suggest unfollowing them, and hope that many will do it. As soon as they are not getting any views on their reports anymore, I bet they will try to change.

[Ronsbit]

Like they say rumours and fake news spread faster like wide fire and these thing's are what the audience wants to hear at the moment thinking their thoughts are right but they forgot that people who are desperate to get them as clickbait and followership to get traffic for their commercials aare just doing what they can to get at them.

The rate at which they spread fake news these day's is alarming. They no longer verify information before they disseminate it's. Online journalist these days do not do a thorough findings on information they spread out. They really do not care and forget that wrong information can cause insightment and also threatens national security.

Since they make money from clicks and views, they do not care what they share online anymore all they care is for their traffic to increase so they can make their money. Maybe a tougher sanctions and punishment be placed against those who spread fake news so that they would learn their lessons and never repeat such nonsense.

[Orpichukwu]

YKES - I would not say this can be a serious crime to bring people in JAIL!
if they do damage (like reputational or economical) they can just repay for it, I would not see valuable an harsh solution like this.
Moreover in most of the cases they can really share some insights even if these have not been considered officially done...

I also won't say they should be jailed for just posting fake news, but there should be social media regulation rules which will limit the spread of false news on the internet, especially by high-profile individuals. Their actions can cause someone to lose money, especially the way everything is open to be bet on in the prediction market nowadays. Some people can stake an option based on false transfer news, which could lead to financial loss, and it will be hard for an individual to approach that influencer for a refund.

[Ruttoshi]

Recently, there's an account in X that's posting big fake transfer news and his name is similar to Fabrizio Romano but the spellings are different. I fell for it once, and start thinking deep about the transfer news. I saw another fake news again from this guy which made to doubt that Fabrizio cannot post that news which made me recheck the account name and saw it's fake Romano.

However, don't accept any news or information you see on social media without verifying.

[IceLincoln]

The Monetisation of social media has its pros and cons. Click bait and fake news are some of the disadvantages that comes with it. People just want to post anything that they think will drive traffic for them without considering whether it’s false or not and the implications of their act.
There are some misinformations which may not be harmful and some which can cause harm, so putting a Ban or fine on such actions will actually be a good idea. People get sued for defamation but this is only done when it’s reported by the victim. If there’s a standard law prohibiting such acts, there will be a reduction in such cases.

[Silverstonez]

What's your take on this?

I don't know what those people who spread false information online hope to gain. Even if you want to trend online, as an influencer or a journalist must it be through misleading people with false informations? Come on there are other ways to trend online. I think is high time socal Media owners start taking actions, they should give those posting misleading informations online permanent ban, I believe that would be fair enough. Because wrong informations can put people in danger.

[programmer3666]

The Media knows exactly what gets people’s attentions!!! shocking headlines, big names, some made up transfers they know it will surely drive people to click on them. And as long as it works, they will keep doing it. Punishing some few might help to some extent, but the problem is that people keep falling for it over and over again. If fans stopped reacting to every rumor, the noise would die down on its own. But it is not just the fans. The platforms also benefit from the media chaos. More engagement means more ad revenue, so they are not in a hurry to stop it either!! I mean who will intentionally close down their source of revenue! It is just a system that feeds itself. The only real defense I can think of is to stop taking every tweet seriously, always try to check sources, wait for official confirmations and try not to let the hype control your emotions.