I’ve been saying this for a long time, social networks are not supposed to be news sources. Taking news directly from a social network is like running up to the first drunken stooge on the side of the road by a house fire and asking him to report the facts. It just won’t happen, and Paul Carr over at TechCrunch sums up exactly why… “look at me, looking at you, looking at me” news is social reporting, and social reporting is yellow journalism without the focus given to a political party line or any particular brand of entertainment. There is no rhyme or reason, it simply is “Hey! Look at Me!” without a message or meaning.
I feel that Paul Carr has been sharing my brain cell. The citizen journalist on Fort Hood was a soldier, who took pictures of the wounded [at least one, I haven't seen others because I don't care to], and put her particular spin on the observation… an unmeasured, and somewhat Jerry Springer in nature, observation at that. Regardless of her desire to be a patriot and a good soldier, making a statement like:
“remind me why I joined the army again”
… well, it just ruins the image of her being a good soldier. Paul was somewhat nice about it, suggesting that she’s obviously desires to be a good patriot, but having to be reminded why one joins the Army is not supportive of this suggestion. It implies she’s stuck. Or at the very least, frustrated with her position in life. But lets not make this all about her, she’s just a symptom of the underlying cause.
I love social media, it is great for what it is, and I encourage its existence. But what is it good for? Well, to get the word out about something that a group of people might find important. But the importance needs to also be factual. And ironically, I have noticed, privacy does not matter anymore. Many years ago, I wanted to created a service that monitored website privacy, it was to be called PrivacyMetrix and would monitor the abuses of privacy online and attempt to enforce through public disclosure and discourse, that a site is doing something bad with personal information.
I was told then that I would meet resistance by websites and companies; I never continued beyond the R&D of the site and service… why? Because I witness a complete erosion of the desire for privacy by each year and each user. And what put the coffin nail in the idea of personal privacy? A transition of audiences from Jerry Springer and Reality Television to YouTube, Twitter, and at a smaller level, Facebook.
For all the good that privacy advocates have been pushing for, those who choose to video tape and post something happening are pushing up against those privacy advocates, those who would rather do something with that information other than creating a mob hive-mind. Which does good, but then we have events that just boggle the mind; again, we reflect on the phrase “Look at me, looking at her, looking back at me.” where people video taped a rape and walked on filling their mind with the idea that someone better suited for the task of stopping the crime will come along or that it isn’t any of their business. An ethicist would say that if two people witnessed someone in need, as soon as one person moved to help, others would as well; but we see that reality TV is making us want to watch for entertainments sake.
I could go on and on, there are so many comparisons and points to make, but I think Paul and TechCrunch put it together nicely as well. Go visit the site and see for yourself.
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