Viral Sites Exploiting Sympathy and Prayers for Country Legends (The Scourge of Facebook, Part 2)
EDITOR”S NOTE: This is the second installment in a series on articles on how Facebook is allowing for the eroding of the moral fabric and accountability in country music and beyond.
- Part 1: “We Hate Pop Country” Exploiting Country Legends By Illegally Selling Unauthorized Merchandise
– – – – – – – – – –
When Saving Country Music started nearly nine years ago, the media rarely talked about country legends. They were relics forgotten in time that weren’t worth wasting website space on because few people cared, and the ones who did weren’t online. Now that your mother and grandmother all have Facebook pages and smartphones, country legends and their regular health ailments are the stuff of clickbait dreams for viral farms, not just for the sympathy country legends can arouse, but how you can use them to prey on the power of prayer to get Facebook users and other online traffic to like and share overhyped information presented in an irresponsible manner.
This is the way of the internet these days of course, especially since Google and ad blockers disrupted the economics of websites to the point where if you’re not generating millions of clicks, you can’t make it. Google makes sure to police such content and activity, and diminishes it in search results. But Facebook emphasizes such content, especially if the outlets pay for promoted exposure. As people continue to spend more time of Facebook, the issue becomes exacerbated. But when you start exploiting country legends, as Merle Haggard would say, “They’re walkin’ on the fightin’ side of me.”
Merle Haggard’s see-sawing health issues have certainly been a matter of intrigue over the last few months. It was announced late Tuesday (3-1) that the country music legend has postponed yet another month of dates as he continues to deal with issues stemming from a double pneumonia first diagnosed in December. Since canceling his December dates, Merle’s tour schedule has been on again, and off again, and official word has been hard to find, leading to the frustration of some fans.
But part of the reason the situation has been so fluid is because Merle’s health has been fluid as well. He’s been telling people it actually makes him feel better to play shows, so if he can, he will. At the same time, an abundance of caution is being taken since the country legend is now 78-years-old. But as Merle’s publicist Tresa Redburn told Saving Country Music recently, “Merle Haggard’s not on death’s door. The lack of information is because there isn’t any … He’s going to be 79 in April. He been a little bit weaker than usual, but he’s planning on continuing and doing his thing. The whole year rest of the dates haven’t been canceled.”
But that’s not how some outlets are portraying it, leading to sensationalism and misinformation.
– – – – – – – – – –
Even worse, one site implied that Don Williams had died, when he’d only announced his retirement.
Saving Country Music went to one of these sites called “Newsbake Country,” and that’s pretty much all they post. Here’s a selection of headlines posted just in the last five days:
- The Band Perry Urges For Prayers, This Is So Tough…
- Dolly Parton’s Family Just Broke Some Bad News. This is Tough.
- Days After A Show, Kid Rock Posts Heartbreaking News
- Joey Feek Is Leaving A Powerful Legacy. I Can’t Believe She Did This.
- What Loretta Lynn Just Said About Her Marriage Has Me in Total Shock
- Alan & Denise Jackson Share Heartbreaking News, I Can’t Believe This!
- Kelly Clarkson Just Shared Terribly Sad News On Her Pregnancy, This Is Tough
- Hours Before A Show Jason Aldean Gets Tragic News, This Is Tough To Watch
- Keith Urban Breaks Heartbreaking News, This Can’t Be The END!
- Chris Stapleton Just Released Sad News. This Is Hard To Watch.
- Brad Paisley Posts A Rough A Rough Health Update, Please PRAY!
- Rory Just Posted The News We All Feared, God Bless The Feek’s
- Rory Feek Has Just Reached Desperation, Please PRAY!
The tragic story of Joey + Rory, and Joey Feeks Cancer fight has been an especially hot topic for viral farms. But note that except for Merle Haggard and Joey Feek’s ailments which we already knew about, nobody died in mainstream country music, and there’s been no major announcement about a major ailment from a country star. It’s all hype. This makes TMZ look like NPR.
Merle Haggard has been sick and it is a case for concern. But misleading people on how the news is dire about Merle or anyone else, and prayers are needed NOW is exploitative and irresponsible. Furthermore, like the boy who cried wolf, if folks are asked so many times for urgent prayers after it’s characterized that Merle is on death’s door and he isn’t, at some point they’re going to stop caring.
These viral sites are just doing what they do, and it’s as predictable as it is sickening. But is seems like preying on the sickness of important public figures is especially shameless. In the end it’s up to the reader to choose how they interact with media, and making sure that they read, like, and share is from reputable sources instead of sensationalized clickbait.
Merle Haggard continues to take it easy out of an abundance of caution, and I’m sure he appreciates everyone’s prayers for a speedy recovery. But each time a country legend cancels a show, it doesn’t mean they’re on death’s door. It’s just part of what happens with older performers.
March 4, 2016 @ 9:35 am
Reading their headlines makes me never want to read the words “this is tough” ever again. Jesus christ, the least they could do is put in minimal effort and find another way to phrase it. I don’t think that’s asking too much.
March 4, 2016 @ 9:39 am
Well said, Trigger.
March 4, 2016 @ 9:52 am
Who runs these viral sites? I see them all the time (not in country music as much as anything pop culture related). Like, are there actual people writing these headlines, short articles, and running the websites? Or are the websites programmed to create this kind of content? Or is there some group who owns all of these viral sites?
I only ask because I see so many different ones that I can’t believe each of them has a team to follow the news and then make this stuff up.
It also seems like facebook is to blame for allowing/promoting this sort of content.
March 4, 2016 @ 10:14 am
There are individuals behind keyboards putting this information together, but there is a very strict formula of how you write the content, especially the titles to articles, that could be done by artificial intelligence if someone wanted to go in that direction. However many of the writers are interconnected in networks of of viral sites that I (and others) call viral farms, where they’ll take the same article, and post in on multiple sites, or take the same article from the same site, and post in on multiple Facebook pages. One of the upcoming articles I’m working on for this series delves deep into this practice. The more you dig, the more sinister this stuff becomes.
March 4, 2016 @ 10:26 am
Interesting, yea I’m looking forward to any other articles you may write about this kind of stuff.
March 4, 2016 @ 9:58 am
These articles are awful, but worse than them are the gullible idiot boobs who are dumb enough to believe them without the slightest bit of research, or worse yet, the ones who instinctively slap the “share” button like they’re Rick James on a coke spree in a strip club.
A like doesn’t equal a prayer. A share doesn’t equal a prayer. Unfortunately most people are just too damn dumb to realize this.
And it’s these rejects that have literally RUINED the Internet. I remember a day when shit like this would never fly. Everyone ignored clickbait, and Internet users had enough common sense to know a load of horseshit when they saw it.
Those days are long gone, and that is definitely not a good thing.
March 5, 2016 @ 8:56 am
It is the same thing on Twitter when some #PrayFor hashtag starts trending as if using the hashtag is somehow similar to actually doing something about an issue or cause.
March 4, 2016 @ 11:05 am
The takeaways so far:
Part 1: People like easy money.
Part 2: Old people suck.
March 4, 2016 @ 11:38 am
I look forward to the next post in this series, I saw above that you were gonna make another article in this series. This is all an interesting read.
March 4, 2016 @ 4:28 pm
Then there are those social media “obits” for people who died years ago. Each year the Facebook community has another round of RIP’s for Bob Denver when he dies yet again. The clueless among them recall loving him when he was on “Gilligan’s Island” and “Dobie Gillis.” Then there are the beyond-clueless types who share how much they loved him when he sang “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”
March 5, 2016 @ 10:43 am
Fuck Facebook, you have to have a pretty huge ego to post most of the stuff I have heard. I never had a face book for more than two days, screw newsbake and all those other fake pieces of crap. These exploiters should be gathered up and disposed of,
+1 if you like those stories. The internet is a powerful tool for information and knowledge, not a means to live your life free of real decision making, risk taking, and shame. Hippocritical fake, band wagoner’s.
Most young people suck
Because their Facebook’s command it. Staring at their phones like zombies.
March 5, 2016 @ 7:46 pm
What should be most concerning, in my opinion, is that this kind of trend is likely accelerate because of the number of great artists who have passed away so suddenly in just the first two-plus months this year (e.g., David Bowie and Glenn Frey). Joey Feek was one of the latest targets of these exploitation sites, and I fear she won’t be the last this year, given the fact that Glen Campbell is tragically withering away from Alzheimer’s. Even Linda Ronstadt doesn’t get around much anymore because Parkinson’s is severely limiting what she can do (and, of course, it destroyed her voice, which is the worst thing).
It’s disgusting that these viral vampires, as I like to call them, try to make a buck, or get attention (or both) off of the suffering of these artists and the sympathy of the fans. Unfortunately, such is one rather irresponsible use of the Internet today (IMHO).
March 6, 2016 @ 8:42 am
Nobody exploited Joey Feek. The Feeks themselves regularly posted updates on her condition. Also, Merle Haggard’s own Facebook page often posts updates regarding his health. This leads to his fans responding to Merle himself with their well wishes. The added closeness is the way of the world these days. It’s also an additional marketing outlet for artists, who can be followed up-close-and-personal by fans. Whether someone prefers the old way is immaterial. It’s 2016 and folks need to adjust.
One personal advantage I’ve gained from Facebook: I’ve seen enough of my old high school classmates to make attending my 40th reunion next month unnecessary (I’ve never been to one). But yes, parts of Facebook are annoying as I am sick of seeing David Bowie tributes each time I log on. The guy has been dead for two months. Time to move on.
March 6, 2016 @ 10:34 am
Hey Jim,
Just a couple of observations:
Go to newsbake.com and tell me nobody is exploiting Joey Feek, or the other ailments of country artists. It is astounding what is going on right now.
Also, Merle Haggard’s Facebook page has been deplorable recently for keeping folks up to date on both his tour, and his health issues. The lack of information on his Facebook page has been the underlying reason for so much confusion. There’s absolutely nothing on it as far as worthy information. In fact at one point there’s a post that says, “Follow us for tour updates,” and then as shows got canceled, others got uncanceled, there were absolutely no updates given to the public. On Facebook or anywhere else. Frankly, I think it has been irresponsible to fans who sometimes have driven hundreds of miles, only to have the show they were planning to attend canceled, or NOT driven hundreds of miles to a show they were told was canceled, and it ended up being a go. As explained, part of this is because Merle’s health situation is so fluid. But if you relied on Merle’s Facebook page, you would know nothing right now.