3 ms·

>if Facebook shut down tomorrow it would matter less than if the NYT did. maybe to you, but there's literally millions of people who think the other way around

>if Facebook shut down tomorrow it would matter less than if the NYT did. maybe to you, but there's literally millions of people who think the other way around. Facebook is much more widely known around the world (especially to uneducated people) than the NYT is.

ForrestN 15y ago
I'm not claiming that the NYT is more famous than Facebook (I have no idea) and I meant to make clear that I'm only talking about the US (although I think the work the NYT does has effects throughout the world). My argument isn't that people would even be aware of the changes to society. I think if the NYT disappeared, many many areas of American life would be altered in important ways, as I attempt to flesh out in other comments.
silentscope 15y ago
and yet, the new york times effects every news reporting agency across the world. it's stories define the news cycle, make and brake candidates for president, redefine foreign policy and effect governments all over the entire world. facebook wishes it did that. if the ny times disappeared, there would be a hole that could not be filled by the other news networks. the quality of news, as a whole around the globe, would suffer. There is no comparison. we should remind ourselves to zoom out from the california coastline every once in a while.
- metamatt 15y ago
  I'm trying hard to let your valid points stand out from the rampant homonym abuse (effects should be affects, it's should be its, brake should be break)!
  - algolicious 15y ago
    You are thinking of "homophone" rather than "homonym." Baseball bat and vampire bat are homonyms.
- sbuk 15y ago
  The NYT isn't as important globally or nationally as you seem to think. Certainly the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times have far more global clout. Arguably, Facebook's potential to influence things like presidential elections with 149 million[1] monthly unique U.S. visitors, just under half the population compared to the estimated 19 million[2] unique monthly visits the NYT has. [1]http://www.quantcast.com/facebook.com http://www.quantcast.com/facebook.com [2]http://www.quantcast.com/nytimes.com http://www.quantcast.com/nytimes.com

ForrestN 15y ago

I'm not claiming that the NYT is more famous than Facebook (I have no idea) and I meant to make clear that I'm only talking about the US (although I think the work the NYT does has effects throughout the world). My argument isn't that people would even be aware of the changes to society. I think if the NYT disappeared, many many areas of American life would be altered in important ways, as I attempt to flesh out in other comments.

silentscope 15y ago

and yet, the new york times effects every news reporting agency across the world. it's stories define the news cycle, make and brake candidates for president, redefine foreign policy and effect governments all over the entire world. facebook wishes it did that. if the ny times disappeared, there would be a hole that could not be filled by the other news networks. the quality of news, as a whole around the globe, would suffer. There is no comparison. we should remind ourselves to zoom out from the california coastline every once in a while.

metamatt 15y ago
I'm trying hard to let your valid points stand out from the rampant homonym abuse (effects should be affects, it's should be its, brake should be break)!
- algolicious 15y ago
  You are thinking of "homophone" rather than "homonym." Baseball bat and vampire bat are homonyms.
sbuk 15y ago
The NYT isn't as important globally or nationally as you seem to think. Certainly the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times have far more global clout. Arguably, Facebook's potential to influence things like presidential elections with 149 million[1] monthly unique U.S. visitors, just under half the population compared to the estimated 19 million[2] unique monthly visits the NYT has. [1]http://www.quantcast.com/facebook.com http://www.quantcast.com/facebook.com [2]http://www.quantcast.com/nytimes.com http://www.quantcast.com/nytimes.com