The Way That It Shows, by Martha Thomases – Brilliant Disguise | @MDWorld

May 15, 2016 Victor El-Khouri 1 Comment

Here’s what’s trending on my Facebook news feed at the moment:  Trader Joe’s recalling some frozen food items, Johnny Depp saying something about Donald Trump, and FBI Director James Comey talking about Hillary Clinton’s e-mails.

My Twitter feed has Dan Quayle on it.  Apparently, he said something about Donald Trump.  So did I, but Twitter didn’t consider it news.

By the time you read this, there will be other stories in place.  I can’t imagine they will be any more important to your life than these stories are to mine.  Do you get your news from Facebook?  If so, you’re an idiot.

I mention this because, apparently, there is currently a kerfuffle about the possibility of bias in Facebook’s Trending Topics.  The Republicans in Congress are demanding an investigation.  The media coverage implies that Facebook “censored” the news in favor of highlighting stories that Democrats liked.

Legally (which is all that Congress should be concerned with in this case), censorship only occurs when a government body bans or otherwise limits what citizens can read, see or hear.  A private company such as Facebook cannot, by definition, censor.

Facebook is a for-profit social network.  It is not a news organization.  It has no reporters.  It simply aggregates information and dispenses it in a way that is useful to their bottom line.  They also, for example, think I need to buy Zyrtec from Amazon, according to an advertisement under my Trending Topics.    

Facebook can certainly legally mislead its customers about whatever it chooses.  If, for example, Facebook decides that it’s important for me to know what Johnny Depp thinks about American politics, it can point this out to me when I log onto my Facebook account in an attempt to convince me that I should assign some importance to Johnny Depp’s opinions.

Here’s the thing:  I don’t really trust any news source to be free from bias.  All of them rely on advertising, and therefore eyeballs, to stay in business.  This bias might be political, but is more often monetary.  The only audience they want is young and/or affluent.

Occasionally, you’ll hear someone object to The Daily Show, saying it’s too liberal and doesn’t give equal time to conservative views.  Sometimes (although not as often) you hear someone complain that Fox News doesn’t give equal time to progressive opinions.  These might be useful facts to someone who hasn’t been paying any attention, but it is irrelevant.  The first is a comedy show, not a news bureau.  The second is the media arm of the Republican party.

Is Facebook too liberal?  Don’t sign on.  Is Mark Zuckerberg trying to shape political opinions?  Maybe, but so is Rupert Murdoch.  And his news company doesn’t seem to care if Facebook has opinions.

Read more than one source for news.  Read lots.  Read news from other countries, if you can.  More perspectives get you closer to the truth.

Martha Thomases, Media Goddess, still checks in with her hometown <http://www.vindy.com> sometimes.