No matter what you think of Elon Musk—there are many people who love him and many who hate him—many agree that he deserves praise for inventing something we can all appreciate.
No, no SpaceX rockets.
No Teslas.
We’re talking about the Community Notes feature on X (formerly Twitter).
This feature allows users to add context or fact-checks under X-posts. And while fact-checking is an important feature, it’s not the best part of Community Notes.
The best part is that with just a few words, a user can completely and hilariously destroy a story. If X were to give a Community Notes of the Day award, the winner on Friday could be a note that the British Daily Mail Online.
The newspaper published an article about Simone Biles. The post features a photo of the US team’s superstar gymnast with her Range Rover, along with a short caption: “Simone Biles shows off her Birkins, Range Rover and Texas mansion – but the $25 million Olympic gymnast hasn’t given any money to her penniless biological mother, who works as a cashier to make ends meet.”
If you don’t know the whole story, Biles sounds almost heartless in this short text. Fortunately, the community note quickly cleared up the problem.
Simone Biles is showing off her Birkins, Range Rover and Texas mansion – but the $25 million Olympic gymnast hasn’t given any money to her penniless biological mother, who works as a cashier to make ends meet https://t.co/ACjtIdOtrz pic.twitter.com/KgE5O9jzbm
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) 16 August 2024
“Her mother left her.”
“Source: Literally you.”
The Community Note contained a link to an earlier Daily Mail The story describes how Biles’ mother, Shanon, suffered from drug and alcohol addiction and abandoned Biles and her siblings when the future Olympic star was only six years old.
Biles’ mother recently said she hopes to reconcile with her daughter one day, and whether that happens or not, the Daily MailThe suggestion that Biles owed her mother something was not taken seriously by Community Notes.
The best thing about Community Notes smackdowns is their brevity. They’re the ultimate opportunity to throw out a great one-liner… all in the interest of fact-checking, of course. Take, for example, the football fan who praised Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders earlier this year.
“Shedeur Sanders looks like Patrick Mahomes out there. The Big 12 has NEVER seen a QB of this caliber before,” the post said.
Community Notes did not agree.
“The Big 12 has seen quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes because Patrick Mahomes played at Texas Tech from 2014 to 2016.”
Shedeur Sanders looks like Patrick Mahomes out there 😳
The Big 12 has NEVER seen a QB of this caliber before. pic.twitter.com/Ei2zxkPkYf
— NFL Rookie Watch (@NFLRookieWatxh) May 6, 2024
Community notes can have a positive impact and set the record straight. And everyone needs a good laugh now and then.
(Daily Mail Online)
