Fake news isn’t a behavior problem, it’s a taxonomy problem.
The Onion has been serving up fake news for two decades without (much) complaint.
The problem is when fake news that pretends to be real news.
You can’t build relationships with a proven army of fact-checkers to distinguish what isn’t true. But that’s not the problem for you. Your problem isn’t disproving the negative, but highlighting the positive.
Build a set of categories that help members find the best stuff. Have 5 to 10 respected community members help. Build a set of categories. Begin simply with the following:
- [NEW] – for genuinely new ideas in the community.
- [UNPROVEN] – when there isn’t much evidence it succeeds yet.
- [TESTED] – for when the idea has been tested by members and generally accepted.
Now members can quickly find the latest cutting edge ideas, see what’s tested and has worked, and what’s not proven yet – but might work. You can use more than one tag at a time.
Looking for the good is far more fun and useful than trying to remove the bad.