23rd
Journalists Leaving Facebook
Any journalist who quits Facebook is sacrificing access to a valuable resource for finding leads. I tweeted this earlier, but I felt I should repeat it here so I can clarify what I mean.
The tweet was in response to a live video podcast featuring Rob Scoble, Leo Laporte and Cory Doctorow, who were discussing the controversy surrounding Facebook and people deactivating accounts because of privacy issues. Rob was kind enough to mention my tweet during the podcast, but unfortunately Leo immediately shot it down as “BS” without taking a moment to consider the thought.
I think Leo and many tech journalists don’t view the term “lead” the same way I do. I don’t mean getting a CEO or a PR person to respond to me with a statement or to agree to meet me for a briefing. When I say “lead” I mean finding information that people don’t necessarily want to be found, which potentially leads to an original breaking story.
Rather than ramble on about inauspicious transparency and accountability, I’ll instead cite our unmasking of Brian Hogan as a testament for how Facebook can be a useful tool for journalists. Without Facebook that story would never have seen the light of day. I also recently helped a colleague investigate her story about PG&E censoring its Facebook wall to bolster its very own Prop. 16 — another original breaking piece.
I have plenty of personal issues with Facebook privacy, but as a journalist I don’t see leaving the site as beneficial in any way. If you’re a journalist deactivating your account, I’m not saying you’re doing anything wrong, but you’re throwing away a useful tool. Whether or not you like Facebook, there are people saying and doing things on the site that could be useful information to your readers.
Update: Zahid Lilani asked me this question via Twitter: Journalists got stories before there was Facebook, didn’t they? I don’t think I would read (believe) a journalist who feeds off FB.
My response: Yes, they did get stories before Facebook. I’m not saying it’s impossible to get stories period without Facebook, but in an age where Facebook is very, very relevant and big, you would be giving up an edge.
