The Great Disappearance

Get ready social media friends . . . your views are about to tank, courtesy of the usual source -- a change by a provider.

This time, it's Facebook.  Read more here.

The key quote: 

As part of the change, Facebook says it anticipates “this update may cause reach and referral traffic to decline for some Pages.”

There is lots more in the article on the "hidden" parts of the mysterious algorithm.  Although, duh, friends and family are priority.

I'd like to know why I'm randomly seeing crap from old connections that -- Mark, are you listening? -- I do not care to see things from, but don't want to completely unfriend.

Why, oh why, can't I get priority to non-humans that I actually have strong interest in?  But I digress

Online Only Marks Milestone

None other than Nieman Labs - more US journalists work for pure online publications.

http://www.niemanlab.org/2016/06/there-are-now-more-americans-working-for-online-only-outlets-than-newspapers/

Trolling Is Different To Your Face

This is a great piece from the Chronicle today, and it supports something I've said for some time about commenting in social media.  When the angry believe they are talking to a faceless entity, they are a heck of a lot more rude.

The key line from Marney White's column:

Perhaps online trolling and less extreme forms of public criticisms are just that: a failure to recognize that there are real people at the other end of the attacks.

Indeed.