General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Facebook being down will be a net positive for society [View all]Liberty Belle
(9,535 posts)Despite the obvious problems of disinformation, there is a LOT of good done on FB.
I cover a 2,000 square foot area of largely rural and mountain towns, as well as urban areas including a major city.
We see FB regularly used recently to:
1. Organize a woman's march Saturday that drew 10,000 people here
2. Keep communities informed through community FB pages about wildfires and storm damage in areas so remote that mainstream media doesn't get out there. These are the online equivalent of the town square, where people also share positive community news--local examples include efforts to build a performing arts amphitheater in a local mountain town, efforts to help a family that lost a home to a fire, tree plantings, park cleanup efforts, warning of mountain lion sightings, efforts to help those in need, and much more.
3. Organize help for Afghan refugee families arriving in our region, with donations of household goods
4. Inform people about community meetings, agenda items before local planning groups, and other civic engagement
5. Find lots of lost pets and reunited them with owners
6. Recruit people for fire safe councils and community emergency response teams
7. Report crimes and suspicious activities such as men stalking girls near schools (the Sheriff rarely bothers to report even such serious crimes), mail and package thieves, often with photos/videos, and more.
8. Enable community reporters to reach out to the public online during the pandemic to get quotes/reactions to breaking news
9. Inform neighbors/friends of memorial services, celebrations of life, and go fund me accounts for families when someone dies
10. Organize community clean-up efforts
11. As a reporter, I can share our own news reports on important topics such as who's eligible for booster shots and where to find them, debunk COVID myths, post links to nonpartisan candidate forums, and get far more readers learning these important things through people sharing widely on FB than the number of subscribers our publication has.
The government should step in and do more to encourage or require FB to block misinformation and accounts from Russian trolls etc. But we should not throw out the baby with the bathwater.