Up for a Laugh? Fox Readers Confused Onion Article with Real News.

Alright, I'm sure this is a little mean of me, but c'mon, this is just too funny! So if you look over at my shared news over there, you might see an article I shared from The Onion about Obama's 75,000 word email/rant about the state of the country. Read it, it's hilarious. But here's where the story really gets good-- apparently earlier today, Fox Nation posted that same article, without mentioning (until the very very end, in tiny print, as a link to read the rest of the story) that it was from The Onion and was satirical. Guess what happened? The commenters thought it was real-- because somehow they all knew someone who had gotten this nonexistent email! Apparently the page was taken down as of 5 minutes ago, but screen shots are sure to be circulating...

XD Seriously though, I get that most of Fox's readership is pretty old and to have never heard of the Onion is totally one thing, (and yes, sometimes they have headlines that are actually eerily accurate, which throws me for a loop occasionally because I think they're making it up, as usual, but then they're not?? lol-- "I read this on The Onion! It's not supposed to be true!" What can I say, they're really good at what they do!) but 1) they all jumped on the bandwagon without any proof, or having received this alleged email; 2) when someone pointed out that it was an Onion article, no one else bothered to look it up? Instead, they all continued to comment, believing it was real?? Seriously??? Oh, but then! Some guy actually said he emailed The Onion to confirm the story. Now my question is, if he really did, how the hell would he have done that without, in the process, finding out that The Onion is a satirical newspaper & website? 3) What does this say about FOX's readers (other than the fact that satire apparently goes right over their heads...)? 4) What does this say about FOX? They can present blatant lies as fact, but people will believe it anyway? Well, ok, we already knew that. The comments, if on any other website, could have been seen as sarcasm, mock outrage, playing along, etc... But I highly doubt it. (Other rumors/speculation - this whole Fox gaffe is an Onion prank. Plausible. And that would still be pretty damn funny. Either way, I find this whole thing to be hilarious, and it's completely distracting me from NaNo!)

So there we have it- something to lighten up your Friday. Happy Friday! (May you all be touched by His Noodly Appendage, RAmen. But only if you want to be. No forcing of religions, here, of course. Though I'd love to recommend Pastafarian Sparrowism. S'All good.)