KING OF PRUSSIA, PA--(Marketwired - January 16, 2017) - A satire writer says social media users are to blame for the recent surge of fake news.

/EINPresswire.com/ -- To prove his point, Ken Kilpatrick, Editor-in-Chief of www.RealClearSatire.com wrote a satirical blog entitled "Clinton: Trump will be a Great President." Kilpatrick writes that Clinton states Trump "won the election fair and square" and urged supporters to "stop whining and start winning by acting as a united nation, not a divided menagerie." Kilpatrick writes Clinton states the failure to eliminate the Electoral College 16 years ago cost her the election, "Not Comey." "Not Russia." "Not fake news."

"One would think readers would become suspicious by the second paragraph," Kilpatrick said. "However, RealClear Satire's Facebook page shows most people didn't read beyond the headline before commenting."

And those are the readers Kilpatrick targeted. In his satire piece, he has "Clinton" point out that people trust headlines to tell the whole story while sharing blogs with their friends. She is also quoted as saying headline readers will post comments such as "I call B.S.!" or "Fake News!"

Kilpatrick then says Clinton addresses those who read past the headline. He said she said, "…a number will claim the article is fake news because they [don't] know the difference between satire, which is humor, and fake news which is meant to harm."

Is it possible that people who only read headlines helped cost Clinton the election? Kilpatrick says she remarks, "Given Trump will govern a nation of simpletons, he will make a great president…he can only go up from here."

In just two days, the blog attracted more than 1,000 hits on www.realclearsatire.com, and its Facebook page got approximately 570 emoticon hits, 320 comments and 90 shares.

And "Mrs. Clinton" was correct. Most commenters jumped in after reading only the headline, displaying their ignorance of the blog they either praised or condemned.

"People who comment on and share blogs they haven't completely read are creating a market for those who create fake news," Kilpatrick said. "They are as guilty for spreading false information as those who intend harm."

"The internet is too vast to legislate out fake news as Germany is trying to do," Kilpatrick said. "The key to stopping fake news is to read past the headline. In so doing, angry voters might discover quality satire that can help lighten them up."

About RealClear Satire:

RealClear Satire was created to poke fun at mainstream negative news while addressing serious issues through satire and other tools of humor.

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