Factoids are unverified or incorrect statements that are based as fact. Basically factoids are something that is accepted as fact without any basis as to whether it actually is or not. The word factoid was coined by Norman Mailer in 1973 in a Marilyn Monroe biography. Factoids have offered common misconceptions or urban legends.
The reason factoids have been brought up is due to innovation. There are a lot of factoids when it comes to innovations that could hit the market. Some of the information shared is based on fact, but a lot of technological innovations we hear about are not rooted in any fact. It is fiction. For example what some computers can do or we see do on television is not always the truth, but given as such.