Lies, damn lies and tweets

Researchers at MIT studied more than a decade of Twitter traffic and found that disinformation spreads “farther, faster, deeper and more broadly” than facts do. One especially depressing nugget that helps explain how disgusting conspiracy theories catch fire in the wake of mass shootings: It takes six times as long for a truth to reach 1,500 people as it takes a lie.

We are deeply gullible creatures, easily seduced by unverified stories that conform to our fears and preconceptions. Put that in your slow-burning pipe and smoke it.