Submitted by MitchTobol on

Is Facebook done?

Categories
Politics

Half of all Americans rely on Facebook for their news source. Unfortunately it has been used as a political tool this past election for spreading falsehoods and lies.

 

Facebook had fired their newstaff roughly 6 months ago so the social platform's news streams were unfettered and exploited. Fake news was published and displayed on individuals media streams right next to legitimate news sources such as the Wall Street Journal.

 

Zuckerberg has stated that only 1% of news on Facebook is false. Even if that's true (not sure how he would know) it is discounting the virality of social media. Fake news stories have been shared millions of times in the past few months.

 

Facebook is under fire and they have responded by saying they are considering several ways to tackle this issue.

 

Not sure what the end result will be. What do you think?

Comments

Cynthia Somma

Real or fake, just like Fred--I don't take it seriously. I do however find "breaking news" first on FB.

Mitch knows better than anyone of us--just how many other platforms of social media are out there. I try to keep up--just to follow my kids. I can't.
I think FB is not going anywhere.
Paul Napolitano

Fake news stories have become rampant in the past six months. Every time someone sends me a link to a news story, I check to see if it's fake before I even read it. It's gotten to the point where I don't even trust the fact checking websites. I checked out a false news story on George Soros' Snopes website the other day and it said "Partially True". This was a travesty or at the very least misleading.
John Buscarello

Whether you take it seriously or not it is quite important...it is the way people communicate and a valuable asset. I doubt it is going anywhere until something new takes its place.
Cynthia Somma

I agree John...in all seriousness...the aggressive communication on fb regarding the election was truly enlightening and scary. A lot to be said about stating your STRONG opinion behind a keyboard.

Submitted by RichardLuthmann on Sat, 11/19/2016 - 01:14

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Richard Luthmann

What I know from using Facebook as a marketing tool, it is a relatively inexpensive utility to "shotgun" out a message.

What I know from Facebook using is as a partisan political tool, it is the same inexpensive utility that can be used to do a digital "drive-by" when necessary.

Most people don't read the articles. If you have a "truthy-ish" link, a good picture and a grabbing headline, you will effectively communicate your message to a majority of your target audience.

And Zuckerberg's claim that only 1% of the news on Facebook is false - well that is probably TRUE. Facebook is nearly entirely OPINION not fact. OPINION is not capable of TRUE or FALSE.

The bigger issue is caveat emptor - buyer beware. Is it Facebook's problem that the masses treat Facebook as a newsgathering outlet? No, I think we have a very, very stupid populace.

Case in point - when you can choose your "News Source" you can choose ENTERTAINMENT NEWS alongside US NEWS and WORLD NEWS. Most people cannot name the top three in the line of Presidential succession - the person or the office. And yet, there is a vast number that will check the box to receive minute-by-minute updates from the Kardashians without giving a second thought to geopolitical events.

So is Facebook done? Only if we run out of the ill-informed. And sorry to say, there will NEVER be a shortage of stupid people. Facebook is here to stay.

Submitted by RichGee on Sat, 11/19/2016 - 04:53

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Rich Gee

I only stay in touch with family and very close friends on Facebook. Why? Facebook is not good for you — http://bit.ly/1luRVCA
Corey Bearak

A friend (small f intended) criticizes me for not using FB enough. What I post to Twitter most times gets auto-posted to Facebook. I generally do not hit "share"or "tag" (well sometimes if the person is in the photo and I do not believe the target would object. Since many get there news through FB, the issue of curation invites censorship but perhaps people should be encourage to get curated news -- and that may be the future for the various print and other on line news media, rather than total reliance on their own sites for direct visitations.
Rona Gura

I find it's good fr my very local news. With respect to any other news story, I check CNN at least once a day. During the election, I found it fascinating to read CNN.com and then click onto Foxnews.com to get exactly the opposite version of the same election story. While Zuckerberg is rightly upset, it is also disheartening the way our mainstream news also prints the story so as to follow put forth their own political agenda.
Ellyn Finkelstein

I would not believe any news story emanating from FB. Facebook done, no way!!!!

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