[vlovich123]

American heritage dictionary:

factoid

făk′toid

noun

1. A piece of unverified or inaccurate information that is presented in the press as factual, often as part of a publicity effort, and that is then accepted as true because of frequent repetition.

2. A brief, somewhat interesting fact.

3. An inaccurate statement or statistic believed to be true because of broad repetition, especially if cited in the media.

I assume the definition used here is #2. I’m actually surprised by 1 and 3. I have never heard it used in that context and it’s strange that one word would have 2 fairly contradictory interpretations.

[closewith]

That is interesting! I've never come across the second definition before. Wikipedia suggests that usage become common following CNN misusing the original Norman Mailer meaning during broadcasts in the eighties.

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

[athorax]

Now that is an interesting factoid!