Differentiating fluff from actionable intel in Galnet

[Crimson Echo]

Adding a specific phase to the end of the article indicating that the article is fluff is probably the lowest impact way to differentiate the level of content in galnet.
... The galaxy will have to wait and see.
... only time will tell what happens with...
... The galaxy wonders.
... all praise be to random factorius....
or have it be attributed to other than galnet, and possiibly have it be then hacking the galnet stream (far god worshiper, Tabloid, minor faction, super power propoganda etc)
or some boiler plate message indicated that the information in the article is of questionable veracity.

This probably is not an issue in the short term as the fluff is getting cut, but in the future if it ever makes it back in the game this might be an easy way to approach the issue of players acting on pure off camera fluff.

 

[Rubbernuke]

Its simple. You can:

Structure Galnet so you have 'Main Story' which is in game and have a section like 'Other stories' that is for fluff and that players understand the scope of both

Or

You put a hint in commanders codexes automatically with a phrases like "commanders are advised to look for / be on the lookout for" etc.

 

[Factabulous]

Now tell me how either of those ideas is conveyed to new players?

The problem with #fakenews in Galnet is that while it may be known to everyone who read that thread back in 2019, every new player has to learn it. Or you make it even more explicit in the game, which is immersion breaking.

And that's before the conspiracy theorists start with the 'Well, maybe they marked it as fake so people would ignore it, but maybe it is in game after all'

 

[lenna]

As the OP pointed out Fluff articles are being scrapped - thus the overall suggestion is a bit moot.

Regarding differentiation, the easiest way would probably be to either colour code them or have some kind of article categorisation/tagging facility. Immersive and natural categories for fluff pieces could be easily applied and then the CMDR could filter GalNet articles based on their interests (c/f Google Feed/Twitter/Forums/etc)

 

[Deleted member 38366]

"Show position in Galaxy Map" Button for in-game content and add something to the tune of "Members of the Pilots Federation are invited to [...]" to the text block bottom.
(CG announcements are a good example how Players are given a clear invitation to participate in-game content)

Use no button and some text that can be used as a "yellow press" indicator for fluff/background articles, hinting to the "fluffy/noise" nature of the article.

Even new Players should quickly figure out the difference between "something to read" and "something to visit/interact with or participate".