Posted on 02/05/2010 8:05:17 AM PST by abb
Facebook's page view explosion in the last months of 2009 -- plus new evidence that it is becoming the major driver of news -- has some analysts wondering whether the site is taking over Google News and personalized Google Reader accounts as America's leading information hub. To me the issue boils down to a question: should we get our news from our friends, or from the news?
snip
But the emergence of Facebook as a real driver of news stories tells us something important about how news works. Getting our news from our friends is nothing new. It's as old as the concept of neighborhood gossip. But if Hitwise analytics are capturing a true trend in media, and the share of Facebook outbound links really doubled in the last six months, it paints the picture of an increasingly nichefied world of news readers. Friends are reading what their friends are reading, who are reading what their friends are reading, and so on. It presages the deterioration of top-down news, and the rise of news-reading groups whose news sources and opinions become a centripetal, self-perpetuated cycle of information -- or disinformation.
In his 2008 book True Enough, Farhad Manjoo explains that the fragmentation of the Internet allows different groups to create, and live in, their own "split" realities. This is especially true in politics, where increasingly facts can't find us anymore--instead, we find our own political "facts" in the corners of the Internet, like our friends' Facebook feeds, that reflect our beliefs. Facebook is a unique and wonderful artery to our friends' lives and interests. But if we define our reading by our friends' libraries, we will all find what we already expected rather than what we need to know.
(Excerpt) Read more at business.theatlantic.com ...
ping
Facebook is full of twitter-like twits.
There has to be a better way to communicate with friends and associates.
Grown adults even would rather “text” than answer their cellphones.
Facebook is inane and insipid.
Careful they get rid of people for what they do on Facebook
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,584786,00.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a4:g4:r3:c0.000000:b0:z5
Facebook is a great place. I’m a member of all kinds of conservative fan pages for people and groups like the Heritage Foundation. I’ve become a “fan” of my favourite politicians/pundits from all over the world. There are Constitution fan pages. 2nd amendment fan pages. Israel news. The list goes on and on. It supplements what I may miss on FR.
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cnn/cnn_finishes_fifth_in_primetime_demo_behind_cnbc_151124.asp
CNN Finishes Fifth in Primetime Demo, Behind CNBC
http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/
Journos aren’t helpless against market forces
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aurEYEjWq4KQ
Playboy Surfers Targeted for VW Polos in Web Video Ads
http://media.www.gwhatchet.com/media/storage/paper332/news/2010/02/04/News/Gspm-Study.Journalists.Increasingly.Utilize.Social.Media.Sites-3864656.shtml
GSPM study: Journalists increasingly utilize social media sites
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/447768-Hinchey_Block_That_Deal_.php
New York congressman, five other members send letter to Attorney General and FCC calling for Comcast/NBCU deal to be blocked
What I got from the article is that those who used be able to tell us “what we needed to know” are now powerless in the world of the new technology. It is driving them absolutely out of their minds.
Can he have used anything more condescending than the phrase “what we need to know.”
I hope the bastards die a lingering, miserable, painful death.
I’m glad you enoy it.
I still think it’s insipid.
LOL :) Me too. Boy would they love to go back to the days when the world thought Walter Cronkite was god.
That’s fine. I did not like it at all at first. Once I figured out I could get linked up with all the things that interest me it is a lot more fun.
Agreed.
Yep. Sometimes you just want to give a short answer or information and not talk to the person. Its just like when you call wanting to leave a voice message and the person answers the phone.
I agree with you. And I use it as a tool to convert my more liberal friends from the dark side. ;)
Plus, it has been really nice to catch up with folks that I lost track of over the years.
I always post links on fb so all my lefty artist-type friends see them. I love doing that!
Insipid? Maybe so. But there are millions of people on Facebook who will never find their way to FreeRepublic.
Start posting a couple of articles a day, and maybe a few comments. Most people are sheep, and are uncomfortable outside the herd. They are looking for permission to believe what they believe - you can give them that permission, by posting the articles and the ideas that they won’t get from the MSM.
Leaving cellphone messages these days is a waste of time. People look at the “who called” list and call back without listening to the messages.
FB is just a tool and:
“oooh I’m having a latte on my balcony this morning”
“oooh my doctor let me keep my gaul stones, here’s a picture”
“oooh blah blah blah look at me I’m the center of the universe”
...is a common but not very effective use of it.
Sort of like the American Republic in general.
If only Congress had a “Hide” feature! Hmmmm....
Probably correct. When I typed that I was thinking landline.
Have you made any conversions? I haven’t been successful but I still post all kinds articles in hope that one or two of them may have an awakening.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.