Attention is expensive, and outrage is a 'cheap' moral desert or perhaps a scapegoat from our problems. In a world where there is pressure for and fro everything, we end up trying min-max our life, either subconsciously or not, and it makes sense that people fall for it.
The article is about Paying Attention, not paying. This is radically misleading (and a little ironic).
Also FWIW, the cited nature paper can be found here:
The American news media is tabloid level fake news themselves. As long as they keep breathlessly reporting anonymous sources as breaking news and pushing hoaxes With institutional backing I'm not in the least bit surprised that people will turn to any other alternative, regardless of veracity. As for myself, I've mostly completely tuned out (and generally ignore things like this on HN). Going a month without any "news" or social media is an easy way to see that it adds no value whatsoever to my life.
Sure, we are the home of MSNBC, CNN, and FOX News, but do Americans actually share so much fake news as compared to the rest of the world? Citation needed on that.
