I’m curious why the fact checking industry is experiencing a downturn.
Trump not being president is the easy answer, but it’s not so obvious to me - even though he lied constantly, he was only one person. There are still hundreds of other politicians and public figures telling lies and distortions.
Is it really an industry? Outside of Snopes what else is there? I know when Instagram and Facebook rolled out fact checking it was basically a joke. People would post obvious memes in order to attract “fact checking” from sources that didn’t seem real at all.
I don't think there's really a fact-checking industry -- the industry that exists is something like a leftist Ministry of Truth. That stuff is unpopular because everyone is realizing that they're just more liars, hired by other liars.
The sad thing is it was a perfectly fine site before they ruined it. Having somewhere to point people to show them that no, Bill Gates wasn't giving away a million dollars or whatever was a handy service to have. Simple, non-controversial. The only ones that had a problem with it were the extremely gullible. Then they made the mistake of dragging politics into it, and it ruined the site, like it ruins everything.
I agree with you. I remember Snopes being really useful. I don't think I ever foresaw it being corrupted... your idea that politics corrupted it seems plausible. On the other hand, more generally, it seems like whenever any entity becomes so useful that many eyes are on it, it becomes like a magnet for corruption. In other words, it becomes a tasty target. Maybe Snopes is a victim of its own success.
Trump not being president is the easy answer, but it’s not so obvious to me - even though he lied constantly, he was only one person. There are still hundreds of other politicians and public figures telling lies and distortions.