My op-ed on Facebook for the Boston Globe
Last week, the editors of the Boston Globe requested me to write an op-ed on Facebook and what needs to happen in the wake of its consistently poor behavior.
Here’s a link to what they published, which will appear in Sunday’s “Ideas” section. (If you’re not a subscriber, you’ll have to provide your email address to read it.)
Here’s the start of the article.
Fixing Facebook’s broken news feed
What is Facebook? To most of us as we interact with it day to day, it’s the news feed.
The news feed is what makes it fun — seeing all those baby and graduation pictures from our far-flung friends.
It’s also where the worst of Facebook shows up: the anti-vaccination links, the clueless posts about the Mueller report that no one has seen, and the memes originated by Russian trolls to influence our democracy.
And despite CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s recent feint in the direction of more privacy-focused social media and messaging, the news feed promises to remain influential for years to come.
Given its broad reach — the company also owns Instagram — Facebook is now the most influential voice in America. But because the company hides how its feeds work, we have no idea how that influence functions.
Now Apple is getting into the “news” act big time. Take a look at:
https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/26/no-need-to-subscribe/?utm_medium=TCnewsletter
Consequences for news suppliers will follow the trajectory of the music industry, and the societal implications are horrendous. Without a “free” press, unbeholden to high tech wealth and influence like Facebook and Apple, our progression into the burgeoning post-truth era is inevitable. Sensationalism attracts views; fake news spreads faster than scientifically verified information. I highly recommend the book “Savvy” by clinical psychologist Rohini Luthra and industry guru Shiv Singh for their take on “how to navigate the post-trust era.” Discerning whom and what to trust is now our biggest challenge.