Don’t believe everything you read on Facebook

Could the 2004 romance film “The Notebook” possibly be getting a sequel? As a bonus, could it have scenes filmed here in Benicia? That’s what The Landry Post says.

According to the website, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams will be reprising their roles as Noah and Allie for the followup to the hit adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel. The plot reveals that the newlywed characters move to Benicia for a brief period before returning to Seabrook, with the filming taking place on location. This would mark the first time Benicia has been depicted on screen since the 1996 movie “Down Periscope.”

This would be great news for Benicia residents and fans of the original movie, except for one thing: there’s no sequel to “The Notebook” in the works, certainly not one filmed in Benicia.

Of course, the very concept of a sequel to “The Notebook” is ludicrous. Yes, the original movie has a following, but anyone who has seen the movie– which does not include myself, although I did read a synopsis of it– will tell you that it doesn’t leave itself open for a sequel. Granted, the original novel did have a sequel, “The Wedding,” but that focused on a different set of characters and didn’t take place in Benicia.

Oh, but it must be true. I read about it on Landry Post.

Here’s the thing: Landry Post is not an actual news site. It’s a satirical website. If one were to click on the “About” tab, they would find this:
“Landrypost.com is an entertainment website composed of articles containing fantasy news or satire. Though some articles on landrypost.com contain actual events, none of the articles on landrypost.com should be considered true and are simply meant for entertainment purposes.”

Yet, I still saw this story shared across social media this week, with some asking if it was for real and others asking if they could meet Ryan Gosling. This is not even the first instance of a “sequel to ‘The Notebook’ being filmed in your hometown story” being passed around on social media. Other articles– many using nearly the same wording– have announced the project being filmed in Jacksonville, Fla.; Tuscon, Ariz.; and Des Moines, Iowa. This type of false story had been spread so much that urban legend reference site Snopes had to deny it back in April.

This appears to be part of a new trend in satirical websites. Whereas The Onion’s articles are purposely ridiculous to the point where most people these days seem to understand it’s satire– at least I hope– others, like The Daily Currant specialize in content that is also ridiculous but seems plausible enough to dupe people into sharing it on social media. “Fantasy news” sites like Landry Post go beyond that by having a very specialized formula. Sometimes it’s about a movie being filmed in a particular town, and sometimes it’s about a celebrity moving to a particular town. In April, I saw a story on Daily News 11 about Harrison Ford getting a flat tire in Vacaville and receiving assistance from onlookers, which he publicly thanked them for. I saw that same story on WLEB 21, only with Ford subbed out for Tom Hanks and Vacaville switched with Canton, Ohio. The idea is to trick people from said town into sharing the story without taking the time to examine if it’s real or not.

Why do these sites do this? I don’t know, but I would assume because people keep falling for it. As satire, it’s not particularly funny– I dare even call it lazy–, but the humor appears to come from people reflexively sharing an item without doublechecking to see if it’s true or not.

At some point in the internet era, many of us have fallen victim to misinformation, either by receiving it or sharing it. I don’t blame people for sharing something that isn’t true, but I do believe we can do our part to prevent misinformation from being spread.

First of all, consider where you first saw this link. If it was just something you saw posted on Facebook or Twitter, take it with a grain of salt until you find another source. Reputable sites tend to be featured on news aggregator sites like Google News, whereas sites like Landry Post do not.

Secondly, ask if this is a source you’re familiar with. If not, check the “About” section to see if it’s satire. If a site doesn’t have it, see if any legitimate news sites have reported the same story before you share it.

Finally, if you do see another site that has a similar story, check the layouts. Many of these “townbait” sites, as I like to call them, have nearly the same format with a slightly different color scheme. Even the wording on their “About” sections is identical, leading me to believe they’re all done by the same people.

I suppose it would be better to have misinformation being spread over unimportant matters like movie sequels than things like politics, but as a tool for 21st century learning, I’d rather not have misinformation being spread on the internet at all. People should obtain information from a diverse array of sources and approach any unfamiliar ones with skepticism until they discover something that lends credence to their legitimacy. There may not be a “Notebook 2,” but there can always be a more informed set of internet users.

This has been a public service announcement by Nick Sestanovich, editor of the Benicia Herald.

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