The Current State Of Facebook: The Good, The Bad, The Horrific

Facebook has been a huge driving force in the modern world for the last decade since it was introduced. By becoming the biggest source of news for most American adults, it influenced the flow of content in the internet, even sweeping major news outlets along in the process. With the advent of “Facebook Live,” however, the social network has taken an even bigger role in the stage of news reporting thanks to all the horrific things recently captured and shared via the platform, which then reached mainstream media. Even so, Facebook maintains that it is not involved in bringing news to the world, but rather catering to the interests of its users.

Adam Mosseri, an executive at Facebook, recently wrote on a blog that the social media giant is not in the business of bringing news to the public.

“We are not in the business of picking which issues the world should read about,” he wrote. “We are in the business of connecting people and ideas — and matching people with the stories they find most meaningful.”

However, Margaret Sullivan over at The Washington Post thinks that Facebook is deluding itself. Citing the case of Philando Castile getting shot at Falcon Heights Minn. and was witnessed by his girlfriend Diamond Reynolds who then used “Facebook Live” to reach out to millions of people, Sullivan called the resulting swift investigative action news.

Even so, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Facebook had any intention of filling this role. Mark Zuckerberg and his team simply made a monster of a platform that became more powerful than anticipated. Sullivan acknowledges this when she wrote, “Facebook and others undoubtedly are struggling with what their outsize power has wrought. That can’t be easy, as events keep coming ever faster.”

The Verge even classifies the rising trend of posting live videos of horrific events as the modern method of sending out an SOS. The platform is quickly eclipsing other live streaming services in capturing some of the most horrific incidents that are occurring on a daily basis, from the shooting of unarmed civilians to shooting police officers.