[sadly] Facebook is my news source
I wonder if in the future, along with the “where were you when “xyz” happened?” question, if there will be a “how did you find out?” question. It’s almost like we need to add that now.
I don’t regularly watch the news, read the paper or listen to the radio. I get my news from three sources: word-of-mouth, rss news feed, and Facebook.
And if I’m marking my rss news as read because I don’t feel I have time to read it, and I’m working at home by myself and not chatting much with outsiders, well, you see what that leaves.
Is Facebook a good news source?
You know what news I heard first on Facebook this year*? The Sandy Hook shootings*. The Boston bombings. The Oklahoma City destruction. The London soldier attack. Many other stories.
I also read about many more awful things in my rss news feed that never made it to Facebook. It’s interesting what people find important enough to share/speak their mind on. It’s interesting that people want to share certain things at all.
Mostly, we share the things to which we can relate. Which, honestly, makes it much more emotional for me to find out about things on Facebook than from a news source. It feels more real, raw, emotional. To read about the brutal London attack from someone who is from London. I feel sad about the situation. I feel sad for how the situation makes that person (sharing on Facebook) feel, since it’s their hometown. I feel scared by how public the attackers were. I feel scared by what the attackers said.
In the end though, this all reminds me how often I rely on social media for information. And… I don’t think that is good. For me.
It’s slanted. What you read is completely dependent on who you are “friends” with, or who you “follow.” It makes me think strange things, that I shouldn’t think, like “Why was everyone so passionate about this incident, but not this one that was very similar? Why did they speak their mind on one and not the other”? “Why did this get so many mentions, but not this“?
I am reading in to it way too much. I have to remind myself that most people are probably sharing their thoughts because it makes them feel better.
I also have to remind myself that many voices lamenting the same thing is too overwhelming for me, personally to read.
Anyway. Just wanted to share those thoughts. I’ve had them for awhile now, and it’s like they finally came out in a way that made sense to share.
So. Back to the beginning of this post. I think it’s time to stay more caught up with the news, outside of social media. I can’t avoid it. But I can come prepared.**
*and 2012
**I would rather read something from a news source first, than have the shock of seeing it on Facebook. Not sure why it is different for me, especially since the first thing I do when I read something on Facebook is look up facts from a news source.
Themocracy
If I wasn’t on Twitter, all of my news would come from Yahoo News. :p I follow NPR and AP, as well as WHO, Amnesty Intl, CDC and UNICEF. I fell like that gives me a good, broad global feed.
All of the above I found through Twitter, except for Oklahoma because a friend of mine lives there. I think social media like Facebook is more trustworthy, though, thy than most news sources because it is not skewed for ratings or political agenda. (Usually) It’s just the man (or woman) on the street.
I find this very interesting because I am the same! I’m really bad about following news (I feel like I never have time to watch it with the kids and just don’t know which website is best to check quick bits of info). That means that almost all of my news comes from Facebook. I’m usually on the outside when it comes to current events!
I can’t actually watch the news in my house. Two little people are kinda of a hindrance to that unfortunately. So if it wasn’t online I wouldn’t know most stuff. I found out about Boston via Twitter then I looked it up online.
Thanks for bringing that up! I never even would have thought about that.
I don’t watch news either. EVER. Very intentionally. All those things you mentioned I heard about through FB or word of mouth. Except the tornadoes yesterday. When I went into the vet’s office, they had The Weather Channel on. And that London soldier thing? This post is the first I’ve heard of that. I have no idea what that’s about.
I think it’s odd that the London soldier thing did not get more coverage. Have you heard about it by now?
Twitter is where I get most of the news from. I effing hate it. I see too much of the violence going on in Chicago and other crazy news. I go to CNN way too much at work. Surprisingly I hear of most major news events from people at work saying “did you hear about….” And the part that really makes me want to unplug is everyone’s “take” or their “thoughts on…” whatever happened after it happened. I could go on and on about that but will stop and censor myself before things get out of hand 🙂
Thank you for mentioning that, because I meant to bring it up here and forgot. A lot of what bothered me about Superstorm Sandy and the NYC Marathon and the Boston Marathon bombings was that people wanted to gossip about it… just to gossip. No remorse for the people there. It was just another scandal. It was sick to see how excited they got when talking about it. How they hoped to one-up you with what more current news they had. WTF.
London soldier attack? Is this within the last 24-36 hours because I’ve been on vacation.
Twitter is my news source.
I think the London soldier thing was a few hours before I wrote the post. I read about it on my newsfeed on the train ride home from work.
Hope you are having a nice vacation!
We listen to Morning Edition on NPR when we wake up so I get a run down of the day’s big news that way. That and reading the Tribune while I eat breakfast a few days a week. Otherwise I glean a lot of it from Facebook and Twitter or the occasional glance at the tv while I’m in the gym in my building. I don’t think it’s wrong or bad that you get the information from social media. All media is biased, unfortunately. I used to have my web browser home page set to a news website (I think it was MSNBC) but I realized they are all glamorizing the same story over and over again instead of giving me a well-rounded idea of what’s going on in the world.
Me too crazy huh
I am obsessed with CNN.com!! I’m always on it…I also have the CNN app on my phone. Lately I’ve strayed from them as I’m super stressed and reading bad news all day was really not helping me.
Facebook and Twitter tend to be my news source. Then I go to CNN… but I often find out that something is happening via social media.
I check a few news sites while I’m at work but I do tend to get a lot of my news from twitter and sometimes facebook (when I actually check it). I’m like you though and as soon as I hear about something, I go to my favorite news sites to get more information.
This has definitely been a problem for me as well. I didn’t find out about the Boston bombings until nearly 8 pm that day, and I found out via Facebook friends posting about prayers for Boston. I felt really stupid, so I’ve been making an effort to actually read the news too
I try to check up on the news once in the morning, but a lot of breaking news I hear about through Twitter or Facebook or word-of-mouth and then I try to check out the story on a news website.
I think it is odd that the London soldier thing has received very little media attention. I heard about it by word of mouth and then looked it up online.
I wish I heard less things through facebook and more through valid news outlets. Sometimes I get really irritated with other’s social media reactions to news events so then I need to stay off facebook.
I was really surprised the London soldier thing received such little attention as well! A few people heard about it first here, which is REALLY odd.
Yeah. I have had to stay off Facebook A LOT lately. Well, and just change the settings for how much I see from certain people 😉
Twitter is my news source. I like that I can see breaking stories before any of the major news sites pick them up. I don’t get much news from Facebook, unless it’s about my friend’s kid losing their first tooth. LOL