by WP64 Fri Oct 26, 2018 11:15 pm
I've said this elsewhere, but I think it is really interesting to consider the way in which social media was heralded as this democratizing force in 2010, which was after the success of the Obama Presidential campaign and in the midst of the Arab Spring. Even at the time, I felt that the sentiments being expressed were overstated. It was also a convenient way for American audiences to feel as though it was American ingenuity and invention, and not Arab agency, that was behind those massive street protests.
Nonetheless, I have a hard time making any sweeping assessment of social media as a whole. I am personally more informed because of it. Since joining Twitter a few months ago, I started following a bunch of Italian journalists, which has connected me to the political narratives unfolding in that country in ways that would have otherwise been impossible just reading the New York Times, Guardian, Washington Post, etc.
undo wrote:These companies take and take from our culture and our economy, produce nothing of value and perpetuate a disposable culture of fear and distrust. Wiping them off the face of the earth would be a net positive for 99% of everyone alive and 100% of everyone yet to be born.
I am very sympathetic to this criticism, but I don't share any nostalgia for a time in which a few major media conglomerates controlled the public's access to information and completely dictated the public discourse, which really has not changed very much. The issue isn't about about lack of editorial oversight as much as it is about ownership. I remain far more concerned about the influence of someone like Rupert Murdoch or the insidious nature of Sinclair Broadcasting, which has preyed on the established trust that consumers have with their local news stations and broadcasts to spread disgusting disinformation campaigns about economic migrants coming into the United States.
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feelings toward McCain, or is it for different factors?