The recent changes of Facebook sharing has been criticized in many places and aspects. Some of the criticism included privacy issues, ease of use, and the falling relevance of news feeds. But an interesting side effect may have a surprising impact on News sites: it turns out some of the most popular links Facebook has been promoting by friends sharing have been Old stories.
Old news stories with interesting or funny headlines are getting quite an attention in the social network. As web traffic equals money, and we all know that money changes the world, this may change the entire structure of news sites. So the first conclusion is simple - another nail in the coffin of the "old" perception of journalism, as the higher-rating stories get another positive feedback from the masses, while the "important" stories are once again neglected.
But it might have another meaning, a positive one, regarding the perception of news, time and their joint importance. If people care more for interesting things that happened a decade ago than for what is happening in the here and now, the amazing energy and resources wasted by the media covering ongoing events may finally be diverted to other places. Might it be that the huge circuses the media sets up around live coverage are going to become something its time has passed ?
One can at least hope...
Old news stories with interesting or funny headlines are getting quite an attention in the social network. As web traffic equals money, and we all know that money changes the world, this may change the entire structure of news sites. So the first conclusion is simple - another nail in the coffin of the "old" perception of journalism, as the higher-rating stories get another positive feedback from the masses, while the "important" stories are once again neglected.
But it might have another meaning, a positive one, regarding the perception of news, time and their joint importance. If people care more for interesting things that happened a decade ago than for what is happening in the here and now, the amazing energy and resources wasted by the media covering ongoing events may finally be diverted to other places. Might it be that the huge circuses the media sets up around live coverage are going to become something its time has passed ?
One can at least hope...
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