I’m in favor of getting news to the people in any and all manners, so the following sentences about a new Facebook app don’t strike me as being as vampiric and frightening as you might expect. Print news has been on a collision course with computerization and, to some extent, automation, for four decades. I don’t think these adjustments, painful though they are, will replace the primary goal of news but ensure its existence. The channels need to be fed. The programming of the channels is, of course, worrisome. But that was the case in pre-digital times as well. From Reed Albergotti at the WSJ:
“On Thursday, Facebook introduced a long-awaited mobile app, called Paper, that offers users a personalized stream of news. Facebook said it will be available Feb. 3 for the iPhone; there is no date yet for Android.
Instead of editors and reporters, Facebook’s publication is staffed by a computer algorithm and human ‘curators.’ The content comes from outside sources, based on links shared by the social network’s 1.2 billion users. During a recent demonstration, the curated content featured articles from The New York Times, The Washington Post and Time magazine, among others.
The move is part of Facebook’s long-term strategy to be more than just a popular app, or a destination on the Internet. Facebook wants to be the global hub of human communication, essential in the lives of its users.”
