Just realized that viral "90% of people fail this test" poll was total garbage

Saw that buzzfeed poll about the viral spot the difference challenge that claimed 90% of people fail. I clicked through because the image looked simple, just a couple of trees and a bench. But I dug into their data set and found out they only sampled 200 people from their own comment section. That's not a real poll, that's just engagement bait. The image itself was also photoshopped to have way more differences than they listed. I spent 20 minutes finding 12 differences when they only showed 7 on their key. Has anyone else checked the sample sizes on these viral "shocking" stats before sharing them?

3 comments

3 Comments

jordan_henderson136d ago

Oh come on, you're really gonna sit there and act like Buzzfeed is trying to pass off peer reviewed science? It's a dumb internet quiz for fun, not a census. If you spent 20 minutes counting differences on a photoshopped picture then you already proved their point about engagement working. The whole thing is a joke and you fell for it by fact checking it that hard.

emma_wells836d ago

40% of my brain cells died taking that quiz once.

marybutler6d ago

Wait, you used to actually take those quizzes seriously? I definitely did too until I realized they're basically just designed to keep you scrolling and clicking. Your mileage may vary but now I just treat them like a fun little time waster and nothing more.