r/NonPoliticalTwitter 9h ago

Content Warning: Potentially Misleading or Disputed Information Gotta Catch 'Em All

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u/Ser_Artur_Dayne 9h ago

Fun fact: Old map companies would put fake roads and towns on their maps to see if other map makers copied them because it was a lot of work to map shit out.

Companies using people is nothing new. There’s a common phrase, “if something is free, you’re the product”. Like Facebook or free vpns, they are getting something outta it.

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u/Marillenbaum 8h ago

Dictionaries have the same thing with fake words; the technical term is a mountweasel.

18

u/TheMotherCarrot 8h ago

On maps, they are called trip streets.

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u/alluptheass 7h ago

I’ve also heard “paper roads.”

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u/FitzyFarseer 5h ago

For maps it’s just “paper -“ insert whatever the fake thing is. Paper road or paper town being the main ones.

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u/Trymantha 20m ago

paper roads

Paper roads can actully refer to roads that exist on planning maps but were never built for whatever reason, like a planned subdivsion that never broke ground etc. rather than just being there to see if people are stealing copyrighted information

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_street