“Amy Schumer goes shopping as plus-size woman in comedy sketch.”
“First penis transplant in the United States performed.”
“Fisherman catches cod with snake in its mouth.”
These are among Facebook’s top trending news stories over the past week, which gives them an audience that dwarfs that of the top Very Important Journalism you’ll find at any traditional media outlet.
About 4 in 10 U.S. adults get news from Facebook, which has pulled off the feat of becoming America’s leading news source without most readers realizing it. And it’s all thanks to its super-smart algorithms that know what you want to read and when. Or is it?
Well, not entirely. It’s actually a combination of technology and human editors. And when accusations surfaced last week that those humans had intentionally suppressed news from conservative publications, the idea did not get a whole lot of “likes.”
Facebook presents itself as politically neutral, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg took a break from sifting through your personal photos to share guidelines that he says impose “checks and balances” that prevent political bias. It’s all part of Facebook’s “just trust us” business model.
But let’s say those checks and balances fail and Facebook becomes yet another one-sided media echo chamber. It seems to work everywhere else. Fox News and MSNBC give viewers a slanted version of the news, but each comes with the understanding that neutrality is just a pretense. They’re cheering for the home team. If Facebook does the same, is that such a big deal?
That’s what we asked in our latest poll at HeraldNet.com. About two-thirds – 66 percent – said yes, it bothers them if Facebook promotes a political viewpoint.
Facebook should do its best to play it straight or be upfront about taking sides. But if it’s going to say one thing and do another, we might as well go back to MySpace. And that wouldn’t be good for anybody.
— Doug Parry, parryracer@gmail.com; @parryracer
Now that we’re not worried about what’s trending, time for next week’s poll question about which skipper you prefer.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
