(This post may contain disputed claims. We make no assertions as to the validity of the information presented by our Opinion Columnist. We are an opinion blog, not a traditional news outlet, and this post should be treated as such. Enjoy.)Elle Magazine tweeted out a link supposedly connected to a salacious story about Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. But when users clicked on the link, they found something completely different. The fake news has people up in arms, and the reason they did it is so disgusting.
There is a reason we call the mainstream media “fake news.” Sure, that phrase has been overused. But when major publications spread obviously fake articles, what else can we call them?
Major publications have been resorting to desperate schemes to generate traffic to their websites. Some have used inflammatory or shocking titles to get clicks. This “clickbait” has been the scourge of social media sites for years. Yet many fake news sites still use them, because they work so well.
But one major publications outlet might have gone too far in their latest “clickbait” scheme. Elle Magazine, a fashion and lifestyle publication focused on young women readers, tweeted a picture of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. The title of the post was “Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are splitting up.”
There was a link that appeared to lead to Elle’s website. Users who feverishly clicked on the link discovered it was a ruse. Not only are Kim and Kanye alright, but Elle just tricked their readers into going to an entirely different website.
Where did it go? It went to a voter registration website.
Elle magazine came under fire Thursday for sending a false tweet to its 6.8 million followers claiming Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are “splitting up” — but the attached link directed readers to register to vote in the upcoming midterm elections…
The misleading tweet was quickly slammed as “click bait” and “trash nonsense” by followers. There is no actual story about any breakup of the celebrity couple’s marriage on Elle’s website. West and Kardashian have been married since 2014 and have three children — the rap legend recently made headlines with a highly public White House visit where he spoke with President Trump about a variety of issues.
“Kim and Kanye are not splitting up, and Elle is cruelly spreading fake news about someone else’s marriage to try to get people to vote. This is sick,” Daily Caller media editor Amber Athey tweeted. “It’s one thing for random twitter users to do this, but Elle is a verified account purporting to share ‘news.’ Knowingly spreading fake content is unacceptable.” [Source: Fox News]
This is how desperate and pathetic the left has become. They are resorting to tricking their readers into registering to vote.
Why did Elle do this? They should have just tweeted out a link to the voting page saying something like, “Hey everyone! Be sure to register to vote.”
Well, liberals have tried for years to get young people to vote. Only a fraction of people in their teens and twenties bother to register and vote in elections. Democrats think that — if young adults do vote — they’d vote blue.
It’s a pretty big assumption, considering the growing popularity of conservatives on college campuses.
But the legions of young readers who follow Elle and other liberal outlets don’t seem to care. They aren’t turning out to register. If you’re not registered, you can’t vote.
All the pleas from celebrities have not inspired enough young liberals to take five minutes to register to vote. In many states, the window has already closed. Elle and others are left with tricking their readers into registering.
Pretty lame, if you ask me. If these children aren’t interested when you tell them openly to register, why would they do it if you tricked them?
Elle, trying to save face, has claimed the tweet was a “bad joke.” Really? Then why is the tweet still live? They really are hoping a few dummies will click that link, huh?
We made a bad joke. Our passion for voter registration clouded our judgement and we are sincerely sorry. https://t.co/cYGGrpfBCz
— ELLE Magazine (US) (@ELLEmagazine) October 18, 2018
If this is an indicator of the upcoming elections, the Democrats are screwed. But we should never leave anything up to chance. Patriots need to get out and vote more than ever.
