The 'couldn't think where else to put this' and decided it didn't merit a new thread thread

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  • ac

    "One year ago" ;hmm
  • I got 5. ;weep
  • 7 ;cool
  • 7 for me
  • edited June 2017
    You know, I want to start a thread with the title 'Oh For Goodness sake - We Actually Let These People Vote?! DOH!!' (Actually, that's not what I want to call it, but we have a no-swearing policy.)

    Because I recently joined FB, in order to keep in touch with my distant family and friends, and share photos.

    And every single flippin' day, I see people sharing stuff that is just complete and utter rubbish. Leaving aside the political stuff, which has already melted my head more than a dozen times this week - and it's only Tuesday, ...

    My 2 favourites today are:

    1. If you are being robbed at an ATM, type your PIN in backwards and it will automatically alert the police and take photos of the robber.

    2. The World Heath Organisation is trying to classify being single as a disability.






    ;deadhorse
  • FB is very much like that. Ying and Yang of information.

    I like that I can keep in touch with family and friends in far flung places but oh it really is full of utter rubbish. I have given up saying 'you know that made up don't you?'.
  • I am hoping that I will be able to give up soon.

    But it is infuriating. And depressing that nobody brings any critical faculties to bear on ANYTHING.

    Yesterday I nearly wept when a friend shared one of those 'sign the petition' things. It was relating to the Grenfell Tower fire. And the petition was to call for a coroners inquest, not a public inquiry, because 'we can't trust politicians and if there's just a public inquiry, reporting to the PM, they can cover it up.

    And you know the worst thing? Not that he (the guy who started the petition) didn't know that there will be a coroners inquest anyway, because that's the law


    but that he got 20,000 signatures.

    Like I say .. these people were allowed to vote in the referendum and the general election. ;doh ;doh

    Nothing will convince me that democracy is a GOOD idea - it's just one of the least bad ideas.
  • Facebook used to be fun but I can take it or leave it now.
  • I only really use social media for work now and the occasional big update that needs to be made to everyone. Had to start using Facebook again because it's still quite popular in most of the world and a good way to keep in contact with people I meet when travelling. Directly speak to family and friends through WhatsApp groups.
  • Yeah we use WhatsApp a lot.
  • edited June 2017
    I use WhatsApp a bit, too.

    Previously I had used my 2 email accounts. And text messages.

    Then I joined FB, and used 'chat' a bit. Then got FB messenger.

    Then WhatsApp.

    Then someone 'invited' me to join Instagram.

    I'm like ;nonono ;nolan ;wahoo do I really need SIX different ways to keep in touch????

  • edited June 2017
    I find it depressing ow many people just get their news (by which I mean knowledge of world events) from FB, so it is always tailored to their interests, and thus also only part of the story, and almost always at 2nd or 3rd hand.

    A friend of my shares EVERY news-type post that appears on her Feed as if it is some great and important revelation that we all need to be aware of. And I'm like 'yeah, I know, I read the paper'.
  • I use fb to gross out my family members with pictures of my toenails falling off and sometimes nice pictures of what my daughter is currently up to.

  • ;nonono and ;thumbsup
  • Never read Newspapers, cant wait for my generation and the next to completely bin them off. The day all of them go and we save a few rainforests and get rid of biased useless news the better.
  • When I say newspapers, I mean the online version.

    I can see a time when the print versions disappear (The indy has already)...

    but Yeold, if the online versions disappear, how will you know what's going on?
  • People will always release news over the internet. Doesn't need the online version of the Guardian / Sun or whatever trash newspaper to deliver it.
  • edited June 2017
    Yeold

    But isn't the point about who is doing the issuing, and how much fact-checking (or not) goes on?

    You've only got to look at FB and Twitter to see how much nonsense is published as 'fact', and the spread of deliberately targeted fake news is a very worrying trend, imo.

    The point (it seems to me) of independent journalism is to ensure that the full story is told, not some PR spin version.
  • There is a question, then, of finding completely independent journalism. If you say that the Guardian is independent, has it reported on what CERN has been doing lately (not that I know, but they may have invented a microwave that shaves 6 seconds off heating a cup of tea!)?
    Newspapers, no matter how impartial they are, present news they think people will read. This, in effect, skews the image of the world they present. I genuinely try to read stories in two or three varied sources, if the stories interest me. If not, I just read the headlines, and then filter them to extract the facts, which are generally much less newsworthy.
  • edited June 2017
    secret ;ok

    The reason the Guardian is often called 'independent' is because it is owned by a trust, rather than a mogul. It has, of course, openly stated that it is left-leaning, so not politically independent in that sense.

    No news outlet is completely unbiased, nor can it cover every single thing that happens in the world - there has to be some selection; with web-based sites, though, there aren't the same limitations as there are with print-based sources which are physically limited in terms of space and also time-limited in the sense of a print deadline for each issue. Web publishing also means they can link to previous articles on a issue, or to the sources of the story, background etc.

    One thing I think (and I've mentioned before) is that with web-pased news, the distinction between 'news' reporting (which should imo be fair and factual in its coverage, but in the tabloids is nowhere near) and opinion pieces (which by definition are biased, and that's ok) is easy to miss. I think this is clearer in print-based media.

    Also, when articles are subsequently shared to social media, they become detached from their context. They then get shared again and again until all sense of the context (which can be important) is lost, and the date is less noticeable, so outdated news can be thought to be current news (when it's 'olds' really). This means people are in effect misinformed, or at least not fully informed. Which is why I prefer to start with a 'newspaper' or news site, and then read outwards from there, rather than reply on what people share through social media.
  • The Beeb is still my go to news resource, the bias that is shown by the mainstream media and talking heads we have over here has to be seen to be believed.
  • Chicago,
    I would agree the quality of BBC is high, however it is biased as all media are to one extent or another. The best thing to do from a readers point of view is to have as large a pool of media outlets to look at on any particular topic, that way you form a more balanced view which is what I try to do as far as is possible to do.
  • chicage, I think the beeb can be trusted to get its facts right. But despite all the claims of left wing bias that are aimed at it, I see a (relatively small) bias the other way. In its 'print' news coverage, anyway - I can't comment on its entertainment side.
  • I'm talking about its news coverage which I'd agree is very careful to get the facts on before commenting compared to other media for instance Sky Sport which seems to report news as soon as it can, while I notice that BBC Sport may not be so up upto date so to speak and quite often I notice that the Sky Sport "scoop" turns out not to be quite as the report. I think of any specific examples of late but that it generally what I feel. So yes BBC Sport would be the media outlet I would go to in terms of the facts.
  • I think they are all guilty of not reporting on certain issues. Early last year when the junior doctors strike was in full swing and combined with the student bursaries protests it was hardly reported anywhere, despite having a number of significant events taking place
  • Crimewatch United



    Why is this on the club website? ;doh
  • And in other news, Blowers is retiring from TMS ;nonono
  • edited June 2017
    NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo ;weep
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