President Donald Trump announced his Fake News Awards yesterday. Many of them are, indeed, news reports that turned out to be wrong. Strangely, though, that’s not at all what Trump actually means when he says “Fake News” — or when he generates it himself. Breaking down the 2017 Fake News Awards Trump’s Fake News Awards…
Yesterday Mark Zuckerberg said his personal challenge for 2018 was to fix Facebook. This is a good sign, but we need to hold him accountable. Zuckerberg’s brief statement (432 words, posted on Facebook of course) is direct and personal compared to most CEO communications. Let’s take a look at what he’s saying, how he’s saying…
Fake news is a big problem, and Facebook is at the center of it. It’s clear that made-up and distorted stories amplified on Facebook helped swing the 2016 presidential election. But the simple and “obvious” solutions to the problem have backfired. Now Facebook is at work on something better. And I have a proposal based…
Here’s a story that appeared on Dow Jones newswires yesterday: DJ Update: Google, Apple Join to Create Tech Giant By Josee Rose In a surprise move to everyone who is alive, Google said it’s going to buy Apple for $9 billion. Google Chief Executive Larry Page had secret talks with the now deceased Steve Jobs…
In the wake of emotion comes an assault on the truth. Here are a few of the questionable or false things that surfaced in surprisingly authoritative places in the last week. The Las Vegas shooter was a liberal activist . . . except that he wasn’t. According to top search results on Google, Stephen Paddock,…
Fans in the stands at Fenway Park in Boston unveiled a banner at yesterday’s baseball game. Here’s a picture. A news story about the incident Here’s a story about it: “Alt-right” activists unveil banner at Fenway September 13, 2017 In the middle of the fourth inning of the Red Sox-Athletics game on Wednesday night, a…
“That’s fake news!” “No, you’re fake news.” With all the accusations of what’s fake flying about, is there any meaning to the idea of truth? It’s a remarkably subtle concept. But, contrary to what President Trump told TIME Magazine, truth is not a feeling. The topic of the TIME interview was truth and falsehood. Trump said a…
Mark Zuckerberg published a 5800-word letter on the future of Facebook. It’s thoughtful, well-reasoned, articulate, and full of truth. It’s also full of wistful promises, which I don’t trust no matter who offers them. Mark Zuckerberg’s letter, Building Global Community, starts like this: On our journey to connect the world, we often discuss products we’re building…
I thought Facebook would help me sell books. Instead, what it has done is to boost my brand among a big group of influential people and give me opportunities to get paid. As a result, I can see how it’s assimilating many Web functions, a trend that worries me. I’m a mid-level business author. While my…