We don’t have to believe what we see on Facebook
Mar 21, 2018, 6:06 AM
You don't have to believe what you see on Facebook, Dave Ross reminds us. (File, Associated Press)
(File, Associated Press)
The latest campaign investigation comes from the Federal Trade Commission. The commission believes Facebook may have violated an agreement signed in 2011 not to share users’ private information behind their backs.
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Yes. Another investigation into the 2016 campaign. It’s becoming a drinking game.
But while we’re still sober I’m going to share with you a shocking fact: we don’t have to believe anything we read on Facebook.
But Dave, you say, not believing anything would be just as ridiculous as believing everything.
Quite true. So here’s a rule of thumb. By now, all of us know that the ill-gotten Facebook data was intended to target you with stories scientifically chosen to make you angry. Whether the stories were real or fake didn’t matter, they were sent to you because the Facebook data predicted you would blow your top.
Therefore, if you read something during a campaign cycle and suddenly find yourself irrationally angry, before reaching for your Vibranium spear you should remind yourself that a Facebook algorithm sent you that story to anger you.
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And then you can choose not to believe it. You can also choose to believe it, but if that’s your choice, you should at least check it out. Because to blow your top over nothing just makes a mess and probably causes a concussion. At least that’s what somebody on Facebook told me.
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Tune in to KIRO Newsradio weekdays at 5am for Dave Ross on Seattle's Morning News.
