An alarming story goes round in the morning. It is three years old and from another city, but it has already been through every group.
Chen Hao
早上刷到一条新闻，说我们这儿地铁出事了，吓我一跳。
Zǎoshang shuā dào yī tiáo xīnwén, shuō wǒmen zhèr dìtiě chū shì le, xià wǒ yī tiào.
This morning I came across a story saying there had been an accident on our metro, it gave me a shock.
Xiaoyu
我也看到了。后来发现是三年前的，而且是别的城市。我把截图发到群里，没一个人理我。
Wǒ yě kàn dào le. Hòulái fāxiàn shì sān nián qián de, érqiě shì bié de chéngshì. Wǒ bǎ jiétú fā dào qún lǐ, méi yī gè rén lǐ wǒ.
I saw it too. It turned out to be three years old, and about a different city. I put the screenshot in the group and not one person answered me.
Auntie Wang
那发的人图什么？
Nà fā de rén tú shénme ?
And what does the person posting it get out of it?
Chen Hao
图流量。转得多就有钱。一条爆了，顶他半个月。
Tú liúliàng. Zhuǎn de duō jiù yǒu qián. Yī tiáo bào le, dǐng tā bàn gè yuè.
Traffic. The more it is shared the more it pays. One post that takes off is worth a fortnight to him.
Zhang laoshi
而且越吓人转得越快。真消息一般都平得很。
Érqiě yuè xià rén zhuǎn de yuè kuài. Zhēn xiāoxi yībān dōu píng de hěn.
And the more frightening it is, the faster it travels. Real news is usually very flat.
Xiaoyu
我现在养成一个习惯：看到标题先找日期。
Wǒ xiànzài yǎng chéng yī gè xíguàn : kàn dào biāotí xiān zhǎo rìqī.
I have got into a habit now: when I see a headline, I look for the date first.
Auntie Wang
我哪会找这些。群里发来，我就转给家里人了。
Wǒ nǎ huì zhǎo zhèxiē. Qún lǐ fā lái, wǒ jiù zhuǎn gěi jiālǐ rén le.
I would not know how to look for such things. It arrives in the group and I forward it to the family.
Xiaoyu
阿姨，您转之前问一句：哪个台说的？哪天的事？
Āyí, nín zhuǎn zhīqián wèn yī jù : nǎ gè tái shuō de ? Nǎ tiān de shì ?
Auntie, before you forward it, ask two questions: which broadcaster says so? what day is it about?
Chen Hao
还有一招，把图反着搜一下，很多图都是旧的。
Hái yǒu yī zhāo, bǎ tú fǎn zhe sōu yī xià, hěn duō tú dōu shì jiù de.
There is another trick: search the picture backwards, a lot of them are old.
Zhang laoshi
更麻烦的是现在的视频。脸和声音都能做出来。
Gèng máfan de shì xiànzài de shìpín. Liǎn hé shēngyīn dōu néng zuò chūlái.
What is more awkward is the video you get now. The face and the voice can both be manufactured.
Auntie Wang
那还能信什么？
Nà hái néng xìn shénme ?
Then what can you still believe?
Zhang laoshi
信来源，不信内容。同一件事，两三家都报了，再信。
Xìn láiyuán, bù xìn nèiróng. Tóng yī jiàn shì, liǎng sān jiā dōu bào le, zài xìn.
Believe the source, not the content. When two or three newsrooms report the same thing, then believe it.
Chen Hao
可大家都懒。点一下转发，比查三分钟容易。
Kě dàjiā dōu lǎn. Diǎn yī xià zhuǎnfā, bǐ chá sān fēnzhōng róngyì.
Except that everyone is lazy. One tap to share is easier than three minutes of checking.
Xiaoyu
所以错的跑得比对的快。等辟谣出来，人早就散了。
Suǒyǐ cuò de pǎo de bǐ duì de kuài. Děng pìyáo chūlái, rén zǎo jiù sǎn le.
Which is why the false runs faster than the true. By the time the correction appears, everyone has moved on.
Zhang laoshi
一直如此。只是从前靠嘴，现在靠手指。
Yīzhí rúcǐ. Zhǐshì cóngqián kào zuǐ, xiànzài kào shǒuzhǐ.
It was always so. Only it used to travel by mouth, and now it travels by finger.
他图什么: what is he after? The verb 图 introduces the motive of an action, and it is almost always suspicious: 图钱, 图名, 图省事. The answer here, 图流量, holds the whole economics of social media in two syllables, and Auntie Wang's question is exactly the right one.
越吓人转得越快: the more frightening it is, the faster it travels. The construction was met at level D; what changes here is that the first 越 bears on the story and the second on what readers do with it. Chinese names neither, and the sentence still stands.
还有一招: there is another trick. The word 招 comes from the martial arts, where it names a move; in ordinary language it counts devices and dodges. You say 高招 for a clever idea, 没招了 for being out of options, and 出招 for making the first move.
