# constant facebook posts "you won't believe what happened next" etc, real posts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 19, 2014, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/constant-facebook-posts-you-wont-believe-what-happened-next-etc-real-posts/693517 "2014-07-19T06:12:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![beakernz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/47e85d/32.png) [@beakernz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beakernz)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/constant-facebook-posts-you-wont-believe-what-happened-next-etc-real-posts/693517/1 "2014-07-19T06:12:57Z")
My wall is littered with these posts… “What happened next will shock you” amaze you, make you laugh, make you cry, etc etc… Definitely seems like some sort of click bait fake postings. I can’t imagine all my ‘friends’ are posting this stuff. I’m thinking they install apps and give those apps "permission to post on your behalf’ and this spam gets posted without them even knowing? Is anyone here actively posting these “He looked like a normal dog, but what happens next will shock you!” posts? ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/constant-facebook-posts-you-wont-believe-what-happened-next-etc-real-posts/693517/2 "2014-07-19T06:20:18Z")
Not me, but yes, my friends like and share those a lot. It’s possible they clicked some wonky permissions, but I’d put it down to them actually liking the clickbait things. They’re, like, scientifically designed to be emotionally manipulative to the target audience. Your only solace is to install [Downworthy](http://downworthy.snipe.net/) 😛 (warning: Downworthy will replace text on **any** website with text matching the clickbait titles, it doesn’t discriminate between links to clickbait sites and plaintext). ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/constant-facebook-posts-you-wont-believe-what-happened-next-etc-real-posts/693517/3 "2014-07-19T06:22:23Z")
Not sure about the app posting, but the Facecrooks page identifies this sort of clickbait as a prime way to hijack accounts when readers click through and provide information that makes their account vulnerable. I won’t click on anything that doesn’t tell me what it is. As Ron Weasley’s father reminded us, “Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can’t see where it keeps its brain.” ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/constant-facebook-posts-you-wont-believe-what-happened-next-etc-real-posts/693517/4 "2014-07-19T14:48:52Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Not me, but yes, my friends like and share those a lot. It’s possible they clicked some wonky permissions, but I’d put it down to them actually liking the clickbait things. They’re, like, scientifically designed to be emotionally manipulative to the target audience. > > Your only solace is to install [Downworthy](http://downworthy.snipe.net/) 😛 (warning: Downworthy will replace text on **any** website with text matching the clickbait titles, it doesn’t discriminate between links to clickbait sites and plaintext). WHY IS THIS NOT AVAILABLE FOR FIREFOX? And yes, those posts are real. Your relatives are actually posting that shit. When they share them, it grabs the stupid clickbait headline with it, so your wall ends up getting flooded with things you “won’t believe” or will “restore your faith in humanity.” I feel ill just typing those words. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/constant-facebook-posts-you-wont-believe-what-happened-next-etc-real-posts/693517/5 "2014-07-19T17:20:10Z")
Most of them are real. Many of my friends feel this is something worthy to share or entertaining. I just hide them as soon as they show up. I hide almost all shares. 90% of what people want to share seems like junk to me. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/constant-facebook-posts-you-wont-believe-what-happened-next-etc-real-posts/693517/6 "2014-07-19T18:26:29Z")
Oh, how true! So very true! Truer words have never been spoken! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/constant-facebook-posts-you-wont-believe-what-happened-next-etc-real-posts/693517/7 "2014-07-23T20:40:24Z")
While it is true that you must have friends who really have liked the videos, it is also true that it need not be very many at all. Facebook’s decision on what to show you is not (entirely) based on how many of your friends have liked something, but on how many people have liked it in general. And while shares are more likely to be seen, the popularity of the posts still determines how high up you see it. The best thing you can do about this sort of thing is to mark them as unwanted and then take the Facebook survey to tell Facebook the type of posts you don’t like. I don’t really even see these things at all, and I got pretty much all political crap off my wall this way. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/constant-facebook-posts-you-wont-believe-what-happened-next-etc-real-posts/693517/8 "2014-07-23T21:58:52Z")
If you’re more into counter-programming, there’s always [ClickHole](http://www.clickhole.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/constant-facebook-posts-you-wont-believe-what-happened-next-etc-real-posts/693517/9 "2014-07-23T23:03:37Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > Most of them are real. Many of my friends feel this is something worthy to share or entertaining. > > I just hide them as soon as they show up. I hide almost all shares. 90% of what people want to share seems like junk to me. and that’s the #2 reason why I don’t do Facebook (#1 is that I don’t care what they had for lunch)