April 1, 2014: On its Facebook page, NPR News shared a link to an article with the provocative title, “Why Doesn’t America Read Anymore?” The link generated hundreds of comments. Some agreed with the premise. Others disagreed. But what the responses shared in common was that the people who posted them had unwittingly demonstrated the relevance of the question by failing to take the time to click on the link and read the article. If they had, they would have discovered a short paragraph stating, “We sometimes get the sense that some people are commenting on NPR stories that they haven’t actually read. If you are reading this, please like this post and do not comment on it. Then let’s see what people have to say about this ‘story.'”
