Facebook is useful to me.
My business, whether I like it or not (and I don't), is now another kind of show business. Cable news networks--delivery systems for advertising that have as their business models the pursuit of fickle eyeballs--and social media platforms that aggregate the shiny and shocking have become the default for so many of us. We don't have to do anything but sit there and watch while attractive people flatter and titillate us.
If I'm going to thrive as a newspaper columnist I'm going to have to get over my natural shyness and do a little song and dance. I've got to find ways to connect with readers, with people who subscribe (or might subscribe) to the newspaper because, now more than ever, newspapers need readers. And the more deeply engaged the reader, the better.
Once this column is published, I'll post a link to it on my Facebook profile. Maybe I'll share the link with a group that I belong to. Maybe a few people who wouldn't have otherwise seen the column will click through and read it. Some people will likely make comments about the piece on Facebook (I'd prefer they leave comments on the newspaper's website, but I understand it's easier to comment on the social media site). Maybe some of them will share the column with friends.
This is all good for me. A newspaper columnist needs to be read, and more people will be exposed to and read the column because of Facebook, which provides me a stage. I can adopt an online persona that's more outgoing than the real me and engage with people all over the world. I use the platform--the stage--that Facebook provides to court attention: Look at me.
I don't deny that I enjoy it. I like knowing people react to my work. It can feel good when people say nice things about it; and it can also feel good when the right people say mean things about it. (It doesn't bother me when people disagree with me or call me names; I've been publishing my opinions for over 30 years.) Facebook is a great stage for someone in my position.
Most of you probably don't look at it this way. While there are probably as many ways to use Facebook as there are Facebook users, you should understand all social media is a performing space. You can to some degree (maybe) control who gets a ticket to your show (your family or "friends" or "friends of friends"), but you can't expect privacy.
I'm all about holding Facebook to its own terms of service agreement, but I can't pretend to be shocked that Facebook data was mined by a nefarious entity for shadowy ends. We knew it was bound to happen. Everything I put online is subject to being held against me, and I'm always surprised to discover that other people don't know that. So understand there are things you shouldn't do on Facebook, because everyone can see you there.
You probably shouldn't pull down your pants and scream at the sky (unless you're off on some G.G. Allin punk art attention-grab trip) though I've seen plenty of y'all do that. (People brag about committing felonies on Facebook.)
Social media isn't secret, and it isn't free. You pay for it by agreeing to share whatever personal data you input into the site, whether it's a photo of your unbearably cute puppy or your home address, political affiliation and browsing history. You might or might not think this is a pretty good deal; I happen to think it is, but then I'm not creeped out by having ads for impossibly expensive guitars and wristwatches pop up in my feed minutes after I've done some fantasy window-shopping online. (Sometimes it's even helpful; Facebook has led me to sites I might not have found otherwise.)
But you need to understand that the information you supply is worth something to people who want to sell you things. While we all think we're sophisticated enough not to fall for advertising come-ons or fake news, we're obviously not.
Human nature seeks the path of least resistance. We believe what we want to believe. People believe in UFOs and ghosts and a God who selects presidents. People are generally pretty gullible, and it's not hard to imagine writing algorithms to exploit that. And the fact that you believe you're invulnerable to being misled by disinformation campaigns makes it that much easier to sucker you.
("Disinformation" is different from "misinformation" in that the former is a deliberate attempt to deceive while the latter is just a mistake. The word itself is derived from dezinformatsiya, a term coined by Joseph Stalin to describe the use of deceptive propaganda as a warfare tactic.)
It's not difficult to identify fake stories on social media. The more you want to believe a story, the more skeptical you should be of it. If it's too good (or bad) to be true, it's probably fake. If it's not being widely reported by legacy media, it's probably made up. Usually you can find out if a story is patently false with a couple of keystrokes. (It might take a little longer to ascertain that it's substantially true.)
Which is a good reason to want traditional media outlets that pay professionals to go out and find and report the news to stick around.
Sure, I've seen newspapers and other traditional media do terrible things. I once worked for a publisher who thought it was a good idea to bundle a front-page news story in with a political candidate's ad buy. (To his credit, he allowed himself to be talked out of the idea.) I've see some pretty bad journalism committed, some of it unfair and some of it mean-spirited. But not often. Mostly the people in this business keep the faith.
You only think you don't pay for your news. Some people think nothing of asking me to send them the text of my column so they can read it without having to negotiate the newspaper's metered paywall. Some people will loudly complain that they had to answer a couple of questions before they could read the piece.
But, one way or another, you pay for your news.
pmartin@arkansasonline.com
www. blooddirtangels.com
Editorial on 03/25/2018