#publisher alternate (BUTTON) Close Skip to main content sign in * Saved for later * Comment activity * Edit profile * Email preferences * Change password * Sign out subscribe search dating more from the guardian: * dating * jobs change edition: * switch to the UK edition switch to the US edition switch to the AU edition International * switch to the UK edition * switch to the US edition * switch to the Australia edition The Guardian * home * › opinion * columnists * home * UK * world * sport * football * opinion selected * culture * business * lifestyle * fashion * environment * tech * travel browse all sections close Internet Opinion Satire is dying because the internet is killing it Arwa Mahdawi Facebook’s [satire] tag may prevent people believing Kim Jong-un was voted the sexiest man alive, but the damage is done facebook ‘The problem with satire in an age of finite attention and infinite content is that it makes you stop and think.’ Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian Tuesday 19 August 2014 12.52 BST Last modified on Wednesday 20 August 2014 22.50 BST * Share on Facebook * Share on Twitter * Share via Email * Share on Pinterest * Share on LinkedIn * Share on Google+ * Share on WhatsApp Forget self-driving cars or virtual reality nano-technology algorithms, the newest innovation to emerge from Silicon Valley is square brackets. Facebook is testing a “satire tag” that will clearly label fake news stories from well-known satire sites like the Onion as [satire]. No longer will you need to rely on outdated technology such as common sense to realise that content like Area Facebook User Incredibly Stupid is [satire], the square brackets will do it for you. It should perhaps be noted that Facebook isn’t introducing the satire tag because it thinks we’re all morons, but rather because it knows we’re all morons. In a statement, the social network explained that it had “received feedback that people wanted a clearer way to distinguish satirical articles from others”. Some of those people may well be journalists who have had embarrassing lapses of satire-blindness in the past. The Washington Post, for example, was once fooled into reporting that Sarah Palin was, in a somewhat unlikely career move, taking a job at al-Jazeera. And the English-language arm of China’s People’s Daily fell for an Onion article proclaiming the North Korean ruler, Kim Jong-un, the sexiest man alive, even using the accolade as an opportunity to run a 55-image slideshow of him, complete with quotes from the Onion spoof. Although, it’s possible this may itself have been satire – I’m unsure. And that’s the problem. The internet has become so weird, so saturated with cats and lists and Buzzfeed quizzes that it’s difficult to know what’s serious and what’s a spoof any more. I challenge you, for example, to identify the Onion piece from these headlines: • US adults are dumber than the average human • Hazelnut prices soar, fuelling fears of Nutella shortage • Tips For Being An Unarmed Black Teen • Serial chicken smuggler caught in Norway • Definitive Proof Kale Is The Marilyn Of Foods The point of this carefully curated list is that you often can’t tell the difference between satire and real news online. There are several reasons for this. The first is the underlying business model of the internet. We don’t like to pay for stuff online so the internet is funded by advertising; advertising executives demand eyeballs for their dollars; content providers resort to clickbait headlines and shareable content to secure eyeballs and ad dollars; users get addicted to an endless stream of clickbait. The manner in which we’ve monetised digital media means we often reward reaction over reflection and eschew meaning for meme-ing. News can’t just be news; it has to be entertainment. Indeed, the third law of modern media states that for every moderately important news item published, there will be an obligatory roundup of the funniest Twitter reactions to said news story, generally in slideshow format to maximise clicks. The second big contributor to satire-blindness is our diminishing attention span. The average American attention span in 2000 was 12 seconds; in 2013, it was eight seconds. This is less than the average attention span of a goldfish (nine seconds). As Vladimir Nabokov once said, “Satire is a lesson, parody is a game.” But if there’s one thing we’ve learned from the internet, it’s that everyone prefers games to lessons. The problem with satire in an age of finite attention and infinite content is that it makes you stop and think. It interrupts the speed and simplicity of the discover-click-share cycle that makes platforms like Facebook lots of money. By introducing satire tagging, Facebook has helpfully gone some way in eliminating the unhelpful friction of thought and, in doing so, made life easier for us all. Should the satire tags prove to be a success, I’m hoping Facebook will extend the square bracketing and provide clear labelling for every post on my newsfeed. Here’s to a future filled with [millennial metafiction], [brunch-based panegyrics] and [aggravated alliteration]. __________________________________________________________________ More comment Topics * Internet * Facebook * Social networking * Social media * Digital media __________________________________________________________________ * Share on Facebook * Share on Twitter * Share via Email * Share on Pinterest * Share on LinkedIn * Share on Google+ * Share on WhatsApp * Reuse this content View all comments > comments Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion. This discussion is closed for comments. We’re doing some maintenance right now. You can still read comments, but please come back later to add your own. Commenting has been disabled for this account (why?) (BUTTON) Order by * (BUTTON) newest * (BUTTON) oldest * (BUTTON) recommendations (BUTTON) Show 25 * (BUTTON) 25 * (BUTTON) 50 * (BUTTON) 100 * (BUTTON) All (BUTTON) Threads * (BUTTON) collapsed * (BUTTON) expanded * (BUTTON) unthreaded Loading comments… Trouble loading? (BUTTON) View more comments more on this story * Imagine if we neutered all the cats – how the birds would sing Patrick Barkham Patrick Barkham: My birdwatch loitering has got me fantasising about what would happen if we had just 20 more years of feline company Published: 26 Jan 2015 (BUTTON) Imagine if we neutered all the cats – how the birds would sing * Single parents don’t need anonymous generosity but public respect Suzanne Moore Suzanne Moore: First thoughts: I’m glad a mum’s efforts were praised. Still, the ultimate kindness would be to relieve us of the top-down blaming for societal ills Published: 26 Jan 2015 (BUTTON) Single parents don’t need anonymous generosity but public respect * Why love is hard to find in the bright lights of the city Nell Frizzell Nell Frizzell: Tired of being single in commitment-phobic London or Manchester? Try Windsor and Cheadle instead Published: 23 Jan 2015 (BUTTON) Why love is hard to find in the bright lights of the city * Caption competition: What’s Boris Johnson thinking here? Bella Mackie London’s mayor was photographed with an AK47 in Kurdistan, where Brits are training peshmergas to fight Isis. How would you caption this picture? Published: 23 Jan 2015 (BUTTON) Caption competition: What’s Boris Johnson thinking here? * + Tempted to use a tracking app on your partner? Read this first Andrew Martin Published: 22 Jan 2015 (BUTTON) Tempted to use a tracking app on your partner? Read this first + ‘What happens on tour stays on tour’: how a week on a young Tory campaign bus might look Rupert Myers Published: 20 Jan 2015 (BUTTON) ‘What happens on tour stays on tour’: how a week on a young Tory campaign bus might look + Confessions of a teenage shoplifter Anonymous Published: 20 Jan 2015 (BUTTON) Confessions of a teenage shoplifter (BUTTON) More more on this story popular The Guardian back to top * home * UK * world * sport * football * opinion selected * culture * business * lifestyle * fashion * environment * tech * travel all sections close * home * UK + education + media + society + law + scotland + wales + northern ireland * world + europe + US + americas + asia + australia + africa + middle east + cities + development * sport + football + cricket + rugby union + F1 + tennis + golf + cycling + boxing + racing + rugby league * football + live scores + tables + competitions + results + fixtures + clubs * opinion selected + columnists * culture + film + tv & radio + music + games + books + art & design + stage + classical * business + economics + banking + retail + markets + eurozone * lifestyle + food + health & fitness + love & sex + family + women + home & garden * fashion * environment + climate change + wildlife + energy + pollution * tech * travel + UK + europe + US + skiing * money + property + savings + pensions + borrowing + careers * science * professional networks * the observer * today's paper + editorials & letters + obituaries + g2 + weekend + the guide + saturday review * sunday's paper + comment + the new review + observer magazine * membership * crosswords + blog + editor + quick + cryptic + prize + quiptic + genius + speedy + everyman + azed * video * Opinion * › Internet IFRAME: /email/form/footer/37 * Facebook * Twitter * Facebook * Twitter * all topics * all contributors * solve technical issue * complaints & corrections * terms & conditions * privacy policy * cookie policy * securedrop © 2016 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.