Facebook, like a cell phone, is a tool, not a toy. Unfortunately, these words probably will fall silent on an island in a sea of pleasure seeking and “Bread and Circuses.”
When I first launched Townbroadcast.com in 2012, I was told by former colleague Shelly Sulser, now editor of the Battle Creek Shopper News, that Facebook was indispensible in my scheme to create a new-fangled on-line newspaper. Of course, I was skeptical about her contention at first, but since then I have come to appreciate just what this much-maligned service can do if used properly.
I still consider more than 90% of Facebook to be lame chit-chat and a convenient location for spreading scurrilous garbage and rumors. As the old saying goes, “A lie can go halfway around the world before the truth can get its pants on,” and Facebook seems to be a prime example.
Though many public officials dismiss social media as a destructive and phony conduit, I have learned that you very simply have to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff, or in the immortal words of a former fiesty chairwoman of the Calhoun County Board of Commissioners, “We gotta separate the buckwheat from the bullshit.”
This, in my humble, but correct opinion, is what modern journalists must do. They must be able to detect that which lacks credibility and discern it from the good stuff.
There have been times in which I have been working on difficult stories that I’ve received solid and credible tips from “friends” on Facebook commenting knowledgably what’s happening. Taking a credible news tip and then connecting logical dots can lead to a fast, true and quality story. Interestingly, many of these tips come from common everyday folks who happen to be in the know.
But I repeat, you have to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. Otherwise you can be taken in by charlatans and rumor mongers, or by marketing and advertising. This is crucial in the new game of Internet community journalism.
So I have more than 2,000 “friends” on Facebook, and I sometimes use their comments and information. Facebook is a great place to be used. We’ve only discovered recently that “we” are the product in social media, rather than the customer.
This is not different than technology such as cell phones. They can be very important tools when we’re out and about. They can be life saving when we get into a car accident on a rural road (like hitting a deer) and they can be useful when shopping for groceries and forgetting an item your significant other wanted purchased.
Yet cell phones too often are used for lame chit chat by motorists, thereby endangering the lives of others, and they can be unwelcome intrusions into genuine social occasions where people are engaging face to face. Facebook, at the same time, can be an evil tool for ruining peoples’ reputations by publicly or falsely shaming underserving victims.
The point here is if we use cell phones and Facebook for their intended purpose, to communicate and illuminate, they are wonderful technological innovations. Unfortunately, they too often are used as superficial toys and implements of destruction.
You have stated some valid and interesting points, David.
But I would add that, for me, Facebook is so much more. It is a connection to old classmates, former coworkers and even family members near and far. And to some new friends. I’ve spoken to many family members and friends more often in the past few months on Facebook than in the past 20 years or so. So it’s a good thing.
But I can understand how it can be harmful. I’ll just try to keep out of harm’s way!!!
David, I wish I would have said all that you have. My agreement is complete.
And, without Facebook, my new friendship with Judy (above) would not be. And she is one among many made possible through the social medium that frustrates me more than it elucidates.
Facebook and our phones CAN make us better people if we use them carefully and thoughtfully.
Thanks for an insightful piece!