3 ms·

Thinking about it, lead me to a question: "Why? Why is there a big chunk of the population that gets their news from Facebook?" We are talking about the intern

by kinkdr 10y ago

Thinking about it, lead me to a question: "Why? Why is there a big chunk of the population that gets their news from Facebook?" We are talking about the internet here, where anybody can put up a server and publish anything they want with a very limited budget. It is not like TV, where you have to have a license, and only so many can be issued. Or a newspaper, where you need a large budget. So I wonder why these people you mention choose to get their new from Facebook? Is it that the don't care enough about politics to get them from another source? Is it that they are uneducated and easy to manipulate? Something else? It sounds to me like Facebook is the symptom and not the disease.

walrus01 10y ago
It's because people crave social approval at a very basic mammalian level. If you live in Portland and are a vegan political science major, your Facebook news feed will reinforce your world view through most of the posts coming from your friends. And vice versa for other locales and perspectives. At a certain point it becomes an echo chamber of endlessly repeated "news".
frankydp 10y ago
It is still socially acceptable to be "not any good with computers". Being on the absolute user side of the knowledge spectrum for any ecosystem, technical or otherwise, will completely control your interpretation, use, and comprehension of that system. Cars come to mind. If you are exclusively a user of automobiles, you will happily pay for someone to fill your washer fluid. To anyone with even basic automotive literacy, that would seem almost crazy.
- greenyoda 10y ago
  "It is still socially acceptable to be 'not any good with computers'." Getting access to high-quality journalism on the web isn't difficult. How much do you need to know about computers to open your browser and go to www.nytimes.com, or to install the NY Times app on your phone?
  - frankydp 10y ago
    I know your question was rhetorical, but an example is that a portion of Facebook users specifically do not even know they are on the internet. This level of domain knowledge, or slightly better, is the norm not the exception. http://qz.com/333313/milliions-of-facebook-users-have-no-idea-theyre-using-the-internet/ http://qz.com/333313/milliions-of-facebook-users-have-no-ide... http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/01/20/facebook-touts-its-economic-impact-but-economists-question-numbers/ http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/01/20/facebook-touts-its-ec... http://lirneasia.net/2012/05/facebook-internet/ http://lirneasia.net/2012/05/facebook-internet/

by kinkdr 10y ago

walrus01 10y ago

It's because people crave social approval at a very basic mammalian level. If you live in Portland and are a vegan political science major, your Facebook news feed will reinforce your world view through most of the posts coming from your friends. And vice versa for other locales and perspectives. At a certain point it becomes an echo chamber of endlessly repeated "news".

frankydp 10y ago

It is still socially acceptable to be "not any good with computers". Being on the absolute user side of the knowledge spectrum for any ecosystem, technical or otherwise, will completely control your interpretation, use, and comprehension of that system. Cars come to mind. If you are exclusively a user of automobiles, you will happily pay for someone to fill your washer fluid. To anyone with even basic automotive literacy, that would seem almost crazy.

greenyoda 10y ago
"It is still socially acceptable to be 'not any good with computers'." Getting access to high-quality journalism on the web isn't difficult. How much do you need to know about computers to open your browser and go to www.nytimes.com, or to install the NY Times app on your phone?
- frankydp 10y ago
  I know your question was rhetorical, but an example is that a portion of Facebook users specifically do not even know they are on the internet. This level of domain knowledge, or slightly better, is the norm not the exception. http://qz.com/333313/milliions-of-facebook-users-have-no-idea-theyre-using-the-internet/ http://qz.com/333313/milliions-of-facebook-users-have-no-ide... http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/01/20/facebook-touts-its-economic-impact-but-economists-question-numbers/ http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/01/20/facebook-touts-its-ec... http://lirneasia.net/2012/05/facebook-internet/ http://lirneasia.net/2012/05/facebook-internet/