Become a Member ![\\"snopes](\\"/design/images/logo-main.png\\"/) Search My Profile Logout Submit a Rumor Latest Trending News & Politics Entertainment Fact Checks Quiz Sections Latest Trending Fact Checks News Collections More Contact Us Submit a Rumor Archives Quiz FactBot Newsletters About Us Categories News & Politics Entertainment Science & Technology Lifestyle Free accounts support our journalism Become a Member Login My Profile Logout ![\\"republican_symbol\\"](\\"/design/images/republican_symbol.png\\"/) Snopes fact-checked the vice presidential debate live! Read more here ![\\"democrat_symbol\\"](\\"/design/images/democrat_symbol.png\\"/) Fact Check # Scientists Say Giant Asteroid Could Hit Earth Next Week, Causing Mass Devastation ## An article attempting to prove that most people only read headlines was published with a clickbait title about an incoming, massive asteroid. ### Dan Evon ### Published July 12, 2016 ![\\"](\\" Image courtesy of Wikimedia Claim: A giant asteroid is expected to hit the earth in July 2016. Rating: False About this rating In June 2016, researchers at Columbia University and the French National Institute published a study concluding that nearly 60 percent of links shared on social media are never clicked and read — that people share news stories based on headlines alone. And what does this have to do with asteroids hitting the earth? In July 2016, Yackler Magazine published an article bearing the clickbait title, \"Scientists Say Giant Asteroid Could Hit Earth Next Week, Causing Mass Devastation\". While the first two paragraphs of the article were dedicated to the terrifying doomsday event, the author eventually conceded that \"nah,\" she was \"totally messing with you\": Advertisement: > Scientists have discovered a massive asteroid that is on course to hit the > Earth next week, and are scrambling to find a way to divert the object. > > The asteroid has been named 2016-FI and measures approximately 1 km across. > If it strikes a populated area is could wipe out entire cities and > potentially devastate an entire continent or … nah. I’m totally messing with > you. There’s no asteroid (at least not about to strike next week). After the clickbait title and a little misinformation, Yackler Magazine provided some quotes from the study and explained that the article was published as a sort of experiment of their own. The article concluded with a call to its readers to use a color word while commenting to show that they had read the article: ![\\"yackler\\"](\\" Advertisement: While many readers passed the test with, well, flying colors, others shared the article about a giant asteroid heading toward earth on Facebook: > “People are more willing to share an article than read it,” study co-author > Arnaud Legout said in a statement. “This is typical of modern information > consumption. People form an opinion based on a summary, or a summary of > summaries, without making the effort to go deeper.” To reiterate: there\'s no giant asteroid heading to earth, and the frightening title was a \"social experiment\" to see how many people actually read the article. ### By Dan Evon Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes. ## Article Tags Asteroid Clickbait Recommendations Advertisement: ![\\"Snopes.com\\"](\\"/design/images/logo-main.png\\") Company About Us FAQs Contact Us Submit a Topic Navigate Home Search Archive Newsletters Random Sections Latest Top Fact Checks News Account Join Login Game FactBot Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter © 1995 - 2024 by Snopes Media Group Inc. This material may not be reproduced without permission. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com Terms of Use Privacy Policy DMCA Policy
A giant asteroid is expected to hit the earth in July 2016