Opinion: Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp went down, Davidsonlocal.com was there
This was the message received when trying to log on to our Facebook account.
{Antionette Kerr/Davidson Local}
Imagine the look of terror on my face as we’re driving south from a business trip and I receive a text message informing me that Facebook and Instagram are down and no one can access the Davidson Local Facebook page. We were planning to stream the Davidson County Schools board meeting. I almost dropped my phone on the floor of the car.
Now in case you haven’t noticed, Davidson Local has been in existence for six “grand” months. We’re a small but mighty team of freelancers and we don’t cover everything. You’re probably not looking to us for breaking news and if it’s not local, we try not to touch it. For example: we’re not publishing mug shots until we can accurately report crime across the county. Our sports stories tend to focus on human interest rather than scores. All of that is important but let’s be honest…you can get that information in other places.
But what we do cover, we try to do well. Our email subscriber base is growing. It would surprise you in comparison but it trails our social media influence. We don’t cover every aspect of news, but people are looking to us for special announcements, local meeting coverage and those small stories that matter most to business owners.
For example, our Facebook live stream of the Barbecue Festival announcement reached more than 48,000 views in a 24-hour period. Our school board meeting coverage (especially for DCS because they don’t stream their meetings) can reach up to 10,000 views in one night. And THIS hack of Facebook happened to fall on a school board meeting night when people have come to expect our Brews, Grooves & News reporter Brooke Maners to go live. The team quickly shifted to YouTube, then back to Facebook and Kassaundra Lockhart posted a notice on the Davidson Local website. Then we all breathed a sigh of relief when Facebook returned to its normal state with people guessing what happened. {Yet another example of disinformation.}
Lessons Learned
On Sunday night, 60 Minutes posted an interview with Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. The former product manager at Facebook released thousands of pages of internal documents. Then she leaked information for the Wall Street Journal’s bombshell investigation into Facebook and filed complaints to the Securities and Exchange Commission. She says she lost a close friend to hate speech that was fueled by misinformation on social media.
Reports such as this one from Pew Research makes it clear that most adults get their news largely from social media platforms. I often tell audiences that Davidson Local’s competition isn’t another traditional news source, it’s Facebook.
Pew’s July 2021 report says, “About one-in-five (18 percent) said they mostly use social media to stay current. That’s close to the percentages of those who say they use local TV (16 percent) or cable TV (16 percent) news, but fewer than those who say they go directly to a news website or app (25 percent). Another 13 percent said they use network TV and only 3 percent said they read a newspaper.”
When my Facebook account was hacked a few years ago, I went without for around two days. The lessons I learned came back to me during yesterday’s social media crisis. Facebook is a fun place for me…but it’s not where I get the news.
If you are relying solely on social media to stay informed, you can expect misinformation. Files released by Haugen say algorithms seek to profit from division. They, like many media sources, believe negativity sells papers and drives advertising.
After more than 20 years in the business, Kassaundra and I have seen how those practices creep into newsroom content and what reporters are expected to produce in order to feed the ugly beast. What was exposed on 60 Minutes was not a shock to most of us in the media world. At the DL, we work hard to publish news from different perspectives and often laugh. In any given week, we can be accused of being for or against the same political parties. You have to have thick skin in this business and we consider it a badge of honor.
If you ask us, we would say LOCAL is our bias. Our team is diverse in a host of persuasions and leanings. Bringing information that isn’t covered in Davidson County or that’s misrepresented on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok is why we started this adventure.
If you subscribe to Davidson Daily, we can email you the important details so you don’t have to rely solely on social media. We hope to be your daily free local news. You don’t have to be stuck in Facebook limbo when it comes to local news. Don’t miss a beat at Davidsonlocal.com!
