As a grassroots media reform activist for the past 20 years I am so glad to see people starting to get the media problem in all of its forms. Thank you for writing about it.
What a great articulation about so much that's wrong with FB.
It's an awful platform for professional writers. I was always giving away great content for free whenever I posted anything about the local restaurant scene on FB. He has free content from creators. Now he wants free fact-checkers.
Substack is so much better for writers. And the comments sections are brilliant! No trolls. Trolls know that if they post stupid stuff, they'll get axed in a NY minute. Also, they also tend not to read longer pieces, so they just don't hang out here much.
Spot on, Wini. At the station where I worked, Facebook referrals at one time comprised nearly half of the traffic on our station website. Then one day, somebody at Facebook cranked a valve somewhere and Facebook referrals dropped significantly. Our posts just weren't showing up in people's feeds. That's way too much power.
Well, let's hope that for a significant part of the American people, truth still DOES matter. But it seems we're a shrinking minority. How anyone could re-elect a man who inspired supporters to attack our own country is beyond me. We cannot forget what he did. We cannot forget his lies. We cannot forget his criminal conviction. We cannot forget his other federal indictments, that he wiggled out of simply by running out the clock. We cannot forget those facts. And THAT is the truth!
Comment sections are dangerous because people like me use them to rant. Most folks think I'm "Iowa Nice" but give me a story that I find deeply concerning and it's a short walk to snark.
Your column is on target. The people who write comments often are on the extremes of opinion; those in the middle shrug and move on to more important things. My wife NEVER reads comments because she's smarter than I am.
However, we can expect Moms For Liberty to henceforth rule on school masks and the MAGA cult to write the January 6 history. We all agree it was a lovefest. It is sickening and the rest of my Green Bay Packer teammates agree with me.
Rod, you seem pretty nice to me! I just realized the irony of putting a "leave a comment" button at the end of a column that railed about user comments. But, a big difference here on Substack. Differences of opinion generally are discussed in an even-handed manner.
Facebook has always wanted to portray itself as simply a conduit for information, like a public utility. But to my thinking, Facebook or any other social media platform is a publisher, not a network of power lines or the public airwaves. A newspaper can be sued for publishing a libelous letter ot the editor. I would thnk the same would apply to Facebook.
Many years ago at one of the papers I worked at, we had a person who submitted a letter to the editor accusing an elected official of having an extramarital affair. We refused to run the letter. The letter writer said if we wouldn't print the letter he wanted to cancel his subscription and we allowed him to do so.
There also is much potential for misrepresentation as to who is posting. We experienced that and some other awful things with reader comments on stories. Once we had a person who identified himself in a post as the mayor of a small town in our circulation area. The real mayor contacted us and said that was not him. The poster who misidentified himself was permanently banned.
However, one FB friend of a friend recently said he uses multiple identities to post and just switches identities when one of his nome de plumes gets put in Facebook jail. That's getting a little deep!
I've always said the whole social media phenomenon is one libel suit away from crashing down around everyone's ears. Incredible it hasn't happened yet.
And we all have to push ourselves away from the table, limit our screen times and live. Maybe even read something in print that you can actually hold in your hands and take some time with. And not every social outing on moment of your life has to be shared with the entire world. This is not The Truman Show. Not yet, anyway.
Pat, great example about the mayor who wasn't really the mayor. That's pretty rotten, and glad your paper sniffed it out.
Regarding libel suits, section 230 of the Communications Act protects Internet Service Providers and website hosts in most cases from being sued for libelous comments made by users. The user who posts a libelous comment can be sued, but not the site where it was posted.
Thank you for this Dave Busiek. I'd like to delete FB totally, but I like to see my friends' travel photos. For news, I read the NY Times (with a grain of salt), listen to NPR (both national and IPR), read columns like yours and those of other IWC members, plus historian Heather Cox Richardson and recently-discovered Steady, from Dan Rather. Oh, and I subscribe to The Week, an excellent (though expensive) magazine that does a fair job of including viewpoints from both right- and left-leaning legitimate news media.
We have much in common, Marianne, in terms of what we rely on. I rely on the NYT a lot. Despite my fit of pique at Jeff Bezos, I allowed by WAPO subscription to renew for another year. I was tempted to quit but ultimately wanted to continue supporting the journalists there. I'll have to check out Steady by my old buddy Dan Rather.
I follow your advice, Dave, in that I only post family and pet photos on FB. I may read the occasional political post there, but I rarely comment. I used to use Twitter/X as my platform for political discourse, but after Musk ruined it, I like many others deleted that app and moved on to Bluesky. Some may argue that's also an echo chamber, just as some of the right-leaning sites are. I posit that if you're wise enough, you can separate the fact from fiction and glean what you want from its content. And you can avoid the trolls. Most of the time.
Thanks for making an important point here, Dave, about this being about more than Trump. People focus on him but he's merely trading support for him to be president for MAGA's desire to run the world its way.
Dave, I'm onboard with those commenters who also use FB just for following old classmates or extended family. If someone wants to talk politics with me, they can do it one-on-one. I actually agree with Zuckerberg's decision. FB (and X) were created to allow people to form communities, not as news sources. They don't have the same role as your TV station did in moderating the content on its site. You gave up, and decided to no longer allow reader comments. A wise move. Facebook and X exist for members to post stuff. Why should we expect them to police everything posted on the massive scale on which they operate. This is not original to me, but the remedy for "bad" speech, is more good speech.
As usual, you make perfect sense, Rich. Facebook and a news website are two different animals, so different standards apply. It was an intentional move by Facebook, though, to jump into the news and information waters - probably for understandable reasons of broadening its appeal, keeping users engaged longer, and being a conduit for more vital information than cat pictures. Once they started swimming in those waters, they had an obligation to make sure misinformation about important issues did not flourish.
The remedy for bad speech is more good speech sounds good, but users are left to their own devices to figure out which voices amid all the shouting are truthful and which aren’t. Sifting through hundreds of comments is not easy.
I have never had a FB account and find even less reason now. The tech world is being bullied into financial submission with contributions to the inaugural and the Trump Library (which require no accountability-how convenient). My friends and family know how to send me a few travel photos. Leave FB unless you are hooked on this social medium.
Interesting that you mention WAPO, Dave. The revamped Comments section now includes reaction buttons for Clarifying, New to me, Provocative and Thoughtful. I have asked them to add “That’s just BS” but I haven’t heard back from them. Surprising.
Thanks, Dennis. I had not noticed that because I don’t click on the comments section. I just checked it out. Interesting. Your button idea would probably get used way more than the others.
The printing press caused a real ruckus, too. While it loosened the catholic church's grip on Europe, I'm sure there were also plenty of negative side effects along with it.
Back in the way old days when we were working at WHO-TV and Radio, everyone in both newsrooms respected you because you had integrity. You still do, and you were the reason I came to take a look at Substack - so glad I did! It’s great to have a source for news that is trustworthy. Thanks for that.
Kathy, that’s so kind of you to say. Thank you. I’m glad you found Substack. At a time when newspapers have reduced if not eliminated editorial voices, this is a good place to experience a variety of viewpoints. I hope all is well.
So true. So depressing. But we have the Iowa Writers Collective. Thank you.
Collaborative. Sorry!
As it turns out, the timing on the Writers' Collaborative works out. Kudos to Julie Gammack for creating it!
Absolutely the best advice Dave. Thanks
Thanks, Jann. Best to you and John.
As a grassroots media reform activist for the past 20 years I am so glad to see people starting to get the media problem in all of its forms. Thank you for writing about it.
Trish, could you tell me a little more about being a grassroots media reform activist?
Of course. Long story. I've been active with local and national organizations since 2004 and frequently post on Blog for Iowa about media issues. I was on a panel at the 2007 National Conference on Media Reform in Memphis. I conducted research on the number and hours provided of right wing commercial am talk radio in Iowa. There is a lot to tell but the activism seems to have died down over time, sadly. Would like to see an effort in Iowa to push back on hate speech on the radio. Links: https://blogforiowa.com/2017/02/10/right-wing-media-and-the-power-of-fear/ and https://blogforiowa.com/2005/10/10/fcc-town-meeting-in-iowa-city-a-huge-success/ and this article validated my findings. https://www.newyorker.com/news/campaign-chronicles/the-power-of-political-disinformation-in-iowa
What a great articulation about so much that's wrong with FB.
It's an awful platform for professional writers. I was always giving away great content for free whenever I posted anything about the local restaurant scene on FB. He has free content from creators. Now he wants free fact-checkers.
Substack is so much better for writers. And the comments sections are brilliant! No trolls. Trolls know that if they post stupid stuff, they'll get axed in a NY minute. Also, they also tend not to read longer pieces, so they just don't hang out here much.
And best of all, writers get paid.
Spot on, Wini. At the station where I worked, Facebook referrals at one time comprised nearly half of the traffic on our station website. Then one day, somebody at Facebook cranked a valve somewhere and Facebook referrals dropped significantly. Our posts just weren't showing up in people's feeds. That's way too much power.
“The truth no longer matters” is the most disheartening part and Zuckerberg’s move just enhances that.
Well, let's hope that for a significant part of the American people, truth still DOES matter. But it seems we're a shrinking minority. How anyone could re-elect a man who inspired supporters to attack our own country is beyond me. We cannot forget what he did. We cannot forget his lies. We cannot forget his criminal conviction. We cannot forget his other federal indictments, that he wiggled out of simply by running out the clock. We cannot forget those facts. And THAT is the truth!
Comment sections are dangerous because people like me use them to rant. Most folks think I'm "Iowa Nice" but give me a story that I find deeply concerning and it's a short walk to snark.
Your column is on target. The people who write comments often are on the extremes of opinion; those in the middle shrug and move on to more important things. My wife NEVER reads comments because she's smarter than I am.
However, we can expect Moms For Liberty to henceforth rule on school masks and the MAGA cult to write the January 6 history. We all agree it was a lovefest. It is sickening and the rest of my Green Bay Packer teammates agree with me.
Rod, you seem pretty nice to me! I just realized the irony of putting a "leave a comment" button at the end of a column that railed about user comments. But, a big difference here on Substack. Differences of opinion generally are discussed in an even-handed manner.
My wife is way smarter than me, too.
What position do you play for the Packers? :)
Facebook has always wanted to portray itself as simply a conduit for information, like a public utility. But to my thinking, Facebook or any other social media platform is a publisher, not a network of power lines or the public airwaves. A newspaper can be sued for publishing a libelous letter ot the editor. I would thnk the same would apply to Facebook.
Many years ago at one of the papers I worked at, we had a person who submitted a letter to the editor accusing an elected official of having an extramarital affair. We refused to run the letter. The letter writer said if we wouldn't print the letter he wanted to cancel his subscription and we allowed him to do so.
There also is much potential for misrepresentation as to who is posting. We experienced that and some other awful things with reader comments on stories. Once we had a person who identified himself in a post as the mayor of a small town in our circulation area. The real mayor contacted us and said that was not him. The poster who misidentified himself was permanently banned.
However, one FB friend of a friend recently said he uses multiple identities to post and just switches identities when one of his nome de plumes gets put in Facebook jail. That's getting a little deep!
I've always said the whole social media phenomenon is one libel suit away from crashing down around everyone's ears. Incredible it hasn't happened yet.
And we all have to push ourselves away from the table, limit our screen times and live. Maybe even read something in print that you can actually hold in your hands and take some time with. And not every social outing on moment of your life has to be shared with the entire world. This is not The Truman Show. Not yet, anyway.
Pat, great example about the mayor who wasn't really the mayor. That's pretty rotten, and glad your paper sniffed it out.
Regarding libel suits, section 230 of the Communications Act protects Internet Service Providers and website hosts in most cases from being sued for libelous comments made by users. The user who posts a libelous comment can be sued, but not the site where it was posted.
Thank you for this Dave Busiek. I'd like to delete FB totally, but I like to see my friends' travel photos. For news, I read the NY Times (with a grain of salt), listen to NPR (both national and IPR), read columns like yours and those of other IWC members, plus historian Heather Cox Richardson and recently-discovered Steady, from Dan Rather. Oh, and I subscribe to The Week, an excellent (though expensive) magazine that does a fair job of including viewpoints from both right- and left-leaning legitimate news media.
We have much in common, Marianne, in terms of what we rely on. I rely on the NYT a lot. Despite my fit of pique at Jeff Bezos, I allowed by WAPO subscription to renew for another year. I was tempted to quit but ultimately wanted to continue supporting the journalists there. I'll have to check out Steady by my old buddy Dan Rather.
I follow your advice, Dave, in that I only post family and pet photos on FB. I may read the occasional political post there, but I rarely comment. I used to use Twitter/X as my platform for political discourse, but after Musk ruined it, I like many others deleted that app and moved on to Bluesky. Some may argue that's also an echo chamber, just as some of the right-leaning sites are. I posit that if you're wise enough, you can separate the fact from fiction and glean what you want from its content. And you can avoid the trolls. Most of the time.
I also don’t post on Twitter/X anymore. A waste of time. I keep an account in case someone forwards me something. Otherwise, I never even look.
Thanks for making an important point here, Dave, about this being about more than Trump. People focus on him but he's merely trading support for him to be president for MAGA's desire to run the world its way.
Thanks, Lyle. Good op-ed in the Register Sunday.
Dave, I'm onboard with those commenters who also use FB just for following old classmates or extended family. If someone wants to talk politics with me, they can do it one-on-one. I actually agree with Zuckerberg's decision. FB (and X) were created to allow people to form communities, not as news sources. They don't have the same role as your TV station did in moderating the content on its site. You gave up, and decided to no longer allow reader comments. A wise move. Facebook and X exist for members to post stuff. Why should we expect them to police everything posted on the massive scale on which they operate. This is not original to me, but the remedy for "bad" speech, is more good speech.
As usual, you make perfect sense, Rich. Facebook and a news website are two different animals, so different standards apply. It was an intentional move by Facebook, though, to jump into the news and information waters - probably for understandable reasons of broadening its appeal, keeping users engaged longer, and being a conduit for more vital information than cat pictures. Once they started swimming in those waters, they had an obligation to make sure misinformation about important issues did not flourish.
The remedy for bad speech is more good speech sounds good, but users are left to their own devices to figure out which voices amid all the shouting are truthful and which aren’t. Sifting through hundreds of comments is not easy.
I have never had a FB account and find even less reason now. The tech world is being bullied into financial submission with contributions to the inaugural and the Trump Library (which require no accountability-how convenient). My friends and family know how to send me a few travel photos. Leave FB unless you are hooked on this social medium.
Interesting that you mention WAPO, Dave. The revamped Comments section now includes reaction buttons for Clarifying, New to me, Provocative and Thoughtful. I have asked them to add “That’s just BS” but I haven’t heard back from them. Surprising.
Thanks, Dennis. I had not noticed that because I don’t click on the comments section. I just checked it out. Interesting. Your button idea would probably get used way more than the others.
The Iowa Writers Collaborative is really a great place to get great news, and fun articles to read.
Monday Julie Gammack had Mike Draper (RAYGUN founder and owner) on her podcast. It was an outstanding podcast.
The printing press caused a real ruckus, too. While it loosened the catholic church's grip on Europe, I'm sure there were also plenty of negative side effects along with it.
Back in the way old days when we were working at WHO-TV and Radio, everyone in both newsrooms respected you because you had integrity. You still do, and you were the reason I came to take a look at Substack - so glad I did! It’s great to have a source for news that is trustworthy. Thanks for that.
Kathy, that’s so kind of you to say. Thank you. I’m glad you found Substack. At a time when newspapers have reduced if not eliminated editorial voices, this is a good place to experience a variety of viewpoints. I hope all is well.