I’ll be honest, I don’t even want to read articles anymore. Its just crazy cabinet nominees every time. Wars happening. Nothing I can control. I just post something sarcastic or jokes in the comments. The only thing I care is if a hurricane is headed in my direction.
Y’all actually read all this shit? How does anyone have the energy?
Sometimes. I’ll often read the comments to get the highlights, but I’ll also read the article if it interests me or when I need to know more details.
I read the headline, I read the discussion. If the discussion convinces me to read the article myself, I will. If there’s broad consensus, generally it’s not worth my time to confirm what I’ve learned already.
I do this for several reasons:
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Ads. Even with ad blocker the frequent text breaks are exhausting.
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Overeditorialization. I want the facts, not a narrative. I get why that’s the way the information is presented, but my time is limited and I’m not into it. Same reason I don’t really like (non-nature) documentaries
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Perspective. The author has their own unitary perspective, and I prefer to consume multiple perspectives on an issue so I can explore the problem/solution space.
If it’s short, data heavy, and plays nice with Simplified Mode then I’ll read it real quick, but the less navigation I have to do to obtain information the better.
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If I’m going to comment then I read. Always seeing mfs asking questions answered in the article or raging about shit they imagined based on the headline alone. It’s embarrassing
(👉👈)
Worked for a newspaper for many years. This is a great question.
Good headlines are both intended to give reasonable summaries and drive readers toward articles they’d like to read, because newspapers – and news media congregation systems in general – don’t have a true table of contents, only a series of categories under which article types live. Headlines, at a glance, function as a table of contents in newsprint formats because of this: you can scan for what you find interesting, but don’t have to intake the whole newspaper page to understand what’s being reported.
App scrolling through headlines, then, is functionally the same thing. Just a different UX, is all.
I always read the headline and if the headline is interesting I’ll read the article.
One thing I don’t do is voice my opinion about an article without reading it.
My conservative inlaws read headlines aloud like it’s a fact without reading the article.
And make up a scenario about the headline. Its like angry improve for distressing yourself.
I try to, when I have the time, but I don’t sweat it if I don’t, I just try to avoid forming too many opinions about the topic.
Also, a good chunk of the time I try, I get paywalled. Which I can usually bypass if I’m on PC, but that’s not really feasible on mobile.
Props to all the heroes copying the article into the post, or pointing out when the headline is misleading.
I don’t, I just try to avoid forming too many opinions about the topic.
The best way to handle most things in life. Do what you want, just always assume you know nothing about a topic.
Interestingly, I read the full article more often now on lemmy vs back on reddit. Maybe because there aren’t a ton of comments on posts here so I don’t have context and need to just read it myself. Either way, it’s better because I get to form my own opinion instead of basing it off on other people’s comments.
I’m around 50:50, I read a lot of them but am prone to cynical hot takes on occasion. I’m particularly interested in social community and feeling like I’m at least present with others. Physical disability and in my case, the social isolation it causes–sucks. I’m here when I’m not able to do much else and need to escape. So that is my excuse for the times I’m not reading and the overly cynical hot takes.
In the off chance I do try to read the article, the ridiculous amount ads and popups remind me why I just read headlines.
uBlock Origin, my friend. Works on Firefox on any computer os and Android Firefox. If iPhone, theres Brave.
If it’s a unique event then I read the article. If it’s just something like a cabinet pick, a nation’s response to another nation’s actions etc. I just rely on the headline.
Depends on the article. Political or most other real world news, probably gonna either just read the headline and any comments. If it’s something that interests me, I feel more compelled to read it, though.
the commenters didn’t read it either
Just the headline for most things, especially now.
I read the whole shit more or less for 9 years, most others didn’t even read the headline and just thought it was fake news. It did me no good to be so hyper-informed. Why should I continue what I was doing when being hyper-informed about Trump just gave me more Trump? I’m good. I’ll read whole articles if it matters. For “Gaetz for AG” it doesn’t matter.
Most of the time just the headline. If it’s obviously opinion I’ll often skip. If the headline is a question I’ll usually skip. If it’s an obviously horrific story I’ll skip. If it’s something that is relevant or useful I’ll read. You are what you eat. That applies to your eyes and ears as well as your mouth
