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It seems you might be the person who prefers to get news from headlines, which is perfectly fine, but the article says that it's likely that they're less inform

by ewzimm 6y ago

It seems you might be the person who prefers to get news from headlines, which is perfectly fine, but the article says that it's likely that they're less informed not because of anything to do with social media or the type of journalism they're exposed to, but because they have less interest in political news.

basch 6y ago
and, the news people get on social media is a direct result of who they follow, their friends. I am guessing most people arent following a ton of news organizations on Facebook, so what they are exposed to are the most viral headlines that spread by shares. Facebook, is a tool, and your experience is what you make of it. Follow good sources, get good results. Follow highly tribalistic and fringe people, get edge results. But back to your original point, unless the majority people are using Facebook to seek out news, their passive consumption is going to be them liking entertainment and not wanting it displaced by serious things.
- ewzimm 6y ago
  It can definitely have a perverse effect on perception, but I think it can also build skepticism over time. Being exposed to a lot of misinformation and conspiracy theories can be healthy if the reader is expecting to find it and learning what kinds of stories compel people to respond by emotion instead of reason. People in former communist countries learned this.
  - klyrs 6y ago
    > People in former communist countries learned this. One would hope that people could learn from that history, rather than elect politicians who have bought into the QAnon crap...
chance_state 6y ago
> It seems you might be the person who prefers to get news from headlines How in the world did you conclude that from GP's comment?
- lallysingh 6y ago
  It's not a conclusion, it's an ad hominem attack.
  - ewzimm 6y ago
    Sorry to make it seem like it, but I thought it was a perfect example of the trend being examined in the story. There are more important things in life than reading every statistical analysis of social media trends, and some people find things more meaningful than looking deeply into political news. Active involvement is more important than reading a lot of punditry. It’s healthy that not everyone is interested in reading everything they come across. Sometimes, this can lead to wrong conclusions or being uninformed on trivia, but nobody has time for perfect knowledge.
Barrin92 6y ago
>it's likely that they're less informed not because of anything to do with social media or the type of journalism they're exposed to, but because they have less interest in political news. that's dangerously close to trying to control the thing you want to measure. It seems plausible if not likely that social media use is what's driving declining interest in political news because the engagement driven nature of social media is increasingly crowding out say, long form print media.
- ewzimm 6y ago
  It’s not a certain conclusion, but there is always a part of the population that will be disinterested in politics. From what I’ve seen, interest hit a low point in the 1990s before the Internet caught on. That politically disinterested people would primarily get political news by accident while scrolling for memes seems pretty likely, but I’m sure experience and interest have effects in both directions.

by ewzimm 6y ago

basch 6y ago

and, the news people get on social media is a direct result of who they follow, their friends. I am guessing most people arent following a ton of news organizations on Facebook, so what they are exposed to are the most viral headlines that spread by shares. Facebook, is a tool, and your experience is what you make of it. Follow good sources, get good results. Follow highly tribalistic and fringe people, get edge results. But back to your original point, unless the majority people are using Facebook to seek out news, their passive consumption is going to be them liking entertainment and not wanting it displaced by serious things.

ewzimm 6y ago
It can definitely have a perverse effect on perception, but I think it can also build skepticism over time. Being exposed to a lot of misinformation and conspiracy theories can be healthy if the reader is expecting to find it and learning what kinds of stories compel people to respond by emotion instead of reason. People in former communist countries learned this.
- klyrs 6y ago
  > People in former communist countries learned this. One would hope that people could learn from that history, rather than elect politicians who have bought into the QAnon crap...

chance_state 6y ago

> It seems you might be the person who prefers to get news from headlines How in the world did you conclude that from GP's comment?

lallysingh 6y ago
It's not a conclusion, it's an ad hominem attack.
- ewzimm 6y ago
  Sorry to make it seem like it, but I thought it was a perfect example of the trend being examined in the story. There are more important things in life than reading every statistical analysis of social media trends, and some people find things more meaningful than looking deeply into political news. Active involvement is more important than reading a lot of punditry. It’s healthy that not everyone is interested in reading everything they come across. Sometimes, this can lead to wrong conclusions or being uninformed on trivia, but nobody has time for perfect knowledge.

Barrin92 6y ago

>it's likely that they're less informed not because of anything to do with social media or the type of journalism they're exposed to, but because they have less interest in political news. that's dangerously close to trying to control the thing you want to measure. It seems plausible if not likely that social media use is what's driving declining interest in political news because the engagement driven nature of social media is increasingly crowding out say, long form print media.

ewzimm 6y ago
It’s not a certain conclusion, but there is always a part of the population that will be disinterested in politics. From what I’ve seen, interest hit a low point in the 1990s before the Internet caught on. That politically disinterested people would primarily get political news by accident while scrolling for memes seems pretty likely, but I’m sure experience and interest have effects in both directions.