Facebook used to be a nice idea until it got caught up in a big problem: politics. Well ok, politics is just part of their bigger problem which is life on the internet. Now that news travels faster than ever, it pollutes Facebook faster than pictures of grandma or your nephew’s graduation. Thus the current political climate, which is ugly as sin, has dragged down Facebook with it.
I don’t even need to read propaganda from Russia or ads from Blacktavist, I could not care less if 13 bozos from Russia were indicted, It pales in comparison to all of the propaganda generated here in the US. Russia is utterly insignificant – which doesn’t mean Putin isn’t chortling at our folly. No, I get it all faster and far more intense from my erstwhile FB friends. Yes, I used to have friends on Facebook and then they started to get ugly. Even before Trump was elected and while Hillary was shutting down the Bernie campaign, the political establishment in both parties fought to the death on politics, to the point where Trump supporters are afraid for their well being and are essentially in hiding.
This caused massive consternation at FB prime, but it didn’t end there. Not only did all the FB friends dis each other on politics – which continues to cause mass de-friending, but the hate process evolved. It permeated college campuses, caused organized protests and is even blamed for shootings and terrorism. Thank you Facebook. It used to be a sanctuary where I could see how my old friends were doing, look at family pictures, get advice and opinions on movies, restaurants concerts, get local news etc and generally feel good. Now it is a place I go only occasionally and with much trepidation for fear that even people close to me will turn to the dark side.
Is this peculiar to Facebook? Of course not it’s the internet and Facebook is the biggest player in the feelgood space. And according to millennials, Facebook is for old people anyway and not even in the mainstream anymore. Geez where does that leave email? If email has gone the way of the rotary phone then I must have missed a lot of Russian political spam and I think that’s because they didn’t bother to send any. Why? It probably didn’t make them any money.
In fact the biggest missing ingredient from this Russian scandal is money. The 13 indictees sure spent a lot of money on ads but I doubt they got much back. At least Hillary knows how to do it. Spend other peoples’ money on campaigns and make money on speaking and illicit foundation activity, I doubt she pickpocketed the Russians but they did contribute to the effort.