The age of the Internet continues to produce a complex and ever-evolving information ecosystem.
Longstanding journalistic enterprises such as newspapers continue to provide the most reliable and accurate information, though consumers are increasingly digesting it through social media platforms.
Along with indirectly serving up legitimate news, the ability of Facebook and Twitter to steer millions of eyes toward specific websites and publications has spawned “click bait” outfits that will mislead, manipulate and malign for the purpose of gaining readers, and later, advertising revenue.
One such website did so in embarrassing fashion this week, producing a snarky and poorly researched list of the supposed worst places to live in Washington.
Centralia topped the list, which also included seemingly beautiful and comfortable locales such as Port Angeles and Bainbridge Island.
“I thought it would make for an interesting conversation generator for the Chronicle,” a staffer from the site wrote in delivering the news to the newspaper. “If you have questions, let me know.”
Oh, the questions.
First, how was the “scientific analysis” conducted?
According to the site: “To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what cities have the least amount of those things … We crunched the numbers and — like magic — got the list from worst to best.”
If that doesn’t seem legitimate, it’s because it’s not.
Hopefully, readers won’t pay much mind to the list.
Centralia has issues, as do all cities in Washington. Tabbing one as the worst might make for clicks — of course, a lot of people would like to see where their city ranks — but calling the process scientific is laughable.
The Hub City exists between two of the greatest big cities on the West Coast, is within driving distance of the coast and a national park and boasts some of the best shopping and restaurants in the region.
Give no weight to a flash in the pan website that also has stories titled “30 Adorable Animals From Alaska That Want to Hang Out With You” and “10 Things People in Boston Are Complete Snobs About.”
The name of the site does not deserve to be mentioned here, as it would further allow the desperate domain owners to accomplish their shameless grabs at readership.
Still, it’s worth remembering you can’t believe everything you read on the Internet, which is increasingly host to more fiction than facts.
