These Yahoo Fake News Articles About Online Schools Really Tick Me Off.

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by SurfDoctor, Sep 25, 2011.

Loading...
  1. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Articles like this should be illegal. They are thinly disguised advertisements for the schools that pay to be part of the ad. This one is especially infuriating because it implies that someone who graduates with a bachelor's degree in business is automatically headed for the good life. It fails to mention the untold numbers of degree holders who can't find a job. Since it looks like an official Yahoo News article, the gullible are likely to take it as absolute fact.

    Yahoo should be liable for this kind of thing. I wonder if someone will someday file a class action suit against them.

    Degrees that Matter
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 25, 2011
  2. jts

    jts New Member

    That's pretty bad.

    The world has changed, and kids fresh out of school still have to make choices. It's probably wise to choose an inexpensive school, perhaps in the trades, if one can't find a job as a fresh HS graduate. Either that or make your own job, if you have a skill. The advice given in that article is out of date, but it isn't strictly malicious, I don't think.

    It reflects the ways of the past, and the past is large, and has a great deal of momentum. Many of the things we do don't strictly make sense in the modern world.

    Why is the save icon a floppy disk, and the new document icon a piece of paper? Why are many of the icons for administrative tools in Windows pictures of books and sheets of paper? Why, at an online school, do we usually hand in linear, un-interactive assignments in a format designed for printing to sheets of dead tree?

    Why do we refine oil into fuel and burn it to run almost our entire economy, when peak oil has passed us and we're on the downsloping side of Hubbert's peak? Why, when the U.S. government's debt was downgraded, did the resulting fear drive investors to "safety" in.... U.S. treasuries? :pat:


    Tom
     
  3. lawrenceq

    lawrenceq Member

    I run into these all the time. They write some lame articles and have you fill out your contact information for some high-dollar for-profit school.
     
  4. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    I read that and thought, "I must be the most employable person on earth!" ;)

    Degree #1 - Bachelor's in Business Administration Got it
    Degree #2 - Bachelor's in Computer & Information Sciences Got it - MS-ITM plus certs
    Degree #3 - Master's in Business Administration (MBA) Got it
    Degree #4 - Bachelor's in Health Care Administration Got it - graduate certificate
    Degree #5 - Bachelor's in Marketing/Communications Got it - MBA in marketing
     
  5. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    OK... but can you ride a unicycle?
     
  6. JBjunior

    JBjunior Active Member

    I don't have a job where I would ever hire anyone but I would like to hire you so that you can sit next to me and exude awesomeness.
     
  7. JBjunior

    JBjunior Active Member

    Isn't that a pre-req for at least one of those degrees?
     
  8. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    I'm not sure I would argue with that.
     
  9. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    ......................:haha:
     
  10. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    No, nor can I juggle.
     
  11. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    Now that made me laugh - thanks.
     
  12. Woho

    Woho New Member

  13. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    I disagree. I'm pretty sure that they don't get paid unless you click on a link to a school. I haven't advertised with Yahoo but I have advertised quite a bit on Google Ads and I never had to pay unless someone clicked on my link. So I don't think anyone benefits from merely clicking the article and clicking the article, therefore, does not create the problem.

    According to the link you provided, clicking does make that sort of article appear on my news page, but it does not encourage them to continue creating them.
     
  14. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    That's pretty theatrical. The article makes a number of claims, but none are particularly outrageous and it cites its sources for just about every one of them.

    It's true that having a degree is not a golden ticket to becoming an instant millionaire, but the articles isn't claiming that, just that it's easier to get by in the job market with one than without one, which is still true.

    Besides, if someone makes a fifty thousand dollar decision based on some article they read on the Internet, the problem isn't with the article.
     
  15. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Yea, maybe a little theatrical, but consider the fact that many naive individuals are likely being duped by these kinds of advertisements. What I'm saying is that articles like this should be illegal unless they are identified as advertisements. You and I both know that there are many out there who do not do the research they should before they enroll in a school and I would bet you that many click on one of those links and sign up for a school before they really understand the options. Why else would they continue to do it if it were not working.? While it is dancing around the issue enough to avoid being technically illegal, it is still misleading.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 26, 2011
  16. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    Not to be harsh but I think those people would fail no matter what 99% of the time anyway.
     
  17. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Possibly, but Yahoo should not contribute to the problem by masquerading advertisements as factual articles. I have seen other things on the web that look like something official and at the bottom they place a warning that says "advertisement". Something like this should be in place on those fake articles as well.
     
  18. GeeBee

    GeeBee Member

    The article only contains factual information, and doesn't mention a single school by name.

    You only see an advertisement if you click on the links.

    Sorry, but I'm afraid I don't see anything sinister about this at all.
     
  19. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Not sinister but misleading. It poses as a news article when it is really only an advertisement. Sales pitches, while factual, are disguised as a news report. One thing that is especially untrue is the implication that someone with a bachelor's degree in business from one of these online schools can walk right into a job. It does not come out and say that, but the naive will be led to think it is true. All of it would be fine if it was identified for what it is; an advertisement. Can you see the point there? If it were identified as an ad, people would take the implications for what they are. As a news article, many will be led to believe that a BA from these schools is the ticket to the good life. It does not say that, but it implies that.
     
  20. GeeBee

    GeeBee Member

    SurfDoc, I can sort of see your point. But anyone who is naive enough to see this article, and think that an online degree from one of these schools is the ticket to the good life, is going to have much bigger problems than an expensive degree.
     

Share This Page