Factoid

A factoid is either an invented or assumed statement presented as a fact, "or" a true but brief or trivial item of news or information.
The term was coined in 1973 by American writer Norman Mailer to mean a piece of information that becomes accepted as a fact even though it is not actually true, or an invented fact believed to be true because it appears in print. Since its creation in 1973, the term has evolved, now often being used to describe a brief or trivial item of news or information.
Usage.
The "Oxford English Dictionary" defines a factoid as a brief or trivial item of news or information and as an item of unreliable information that is repeated so often that it becomes accepted as fact.
The term was coined by American writer Norman Mailer in his 1973 biography of Marilyn Monroe. Mailer described factoids as "facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper", and created the word by combining the word "fact" and the ending "-oid" to mean "similar but not the same". The "Washington Times" described Mailer's new word as referring to "something that looks like a fact, could be a fact, but in fact is not a fact".
Accordingly, factoids may give rise to, or arise from, common misconceptions and urban legends. Several decades after the term was coined by Mailer, it grew to have several meanings, some of which are quite different from each other. In 1993, William Safire identified several contrasting senses of "factoid":
This new sense of a factoid as a trivial but interesting fact was popularized by the CNN Headline News TV channel, which, during the 1980s and 1990s, often included such a fact under the heading "factoid" during newscasts. BBC Radio 2 presenter Steve Wright uses factoids extensively on his show.
Versus factlet.
As a result of confusion over the meaning of factoid, some English-language style and usage guides discommend its use. William Safire in his "On Language" column advocated the use of the word "factlet" instead of "factoid" to express a brief interesting fact as well as a "little bit of arcana" but did not explain how adopting this new term would alleviate the ongoing confusion over the existing contradictory common use meanings of "factoid".
Safire suggested that "factlet" be used to designate a small or trivial bit of information that is nonetheless true or accurate. A report in "The Guardian" identified Safire as the writer who coined the term "factlet", although Safire's 1993 column suggested "factlet" was already in use at that time. "The Atlantic" magazine agreed with Safire, and recommended "factlet" to signify a "small probably unimportant but interesting fact," as "factoid" still connoted a spurious fact. The term "factlet" has been used in publications such as "Mother Jones", the "San Jose Mercury News", and in the "Reno Gazette Journal".