Information and Social Media

 

You ever wonder what it would be like being an NFL coach and having to listen to all 70,000 people in the stadium.  Before you signal a play into your quarterback you have to take into account the opinion of every fan watching on TV.  Of course this is a ridiculous scenario.  It does mimic in some ways what it is like trying to get information on social media.  There is no shortage of "information" posted on social media.  I am not interested in the general Tik Toc (not even sure if I spelled it correctly) get rich quick type of information.  I am interested in getting information on a specific topic.  I especially interested in being informed on local issues.

I feel that local issues have an immediate and direct impact on my quality of life.  How local tax dollars are spent are of great importance to me.  I find it disappointing that voter turnout for local elections is very low.  It is encouraging that this trend seems to be reversing itself in recent years.  Maybe there is hope for us yet.  Local issues are of interest to me because I can gather first hand information about them.  For example the local airport expansion.  The McKinney airport is only a 5 minute drive from my home.  I can if I need to see with my own eyes the impact it can have.  One of the issues of any airport is noise.  I can sample first hand noise levels by simply sitting on a roadside and listening.  If my truck is not welcome on the roadside I can ride my bike.  Although when I went by the other day 2 bulls were roaming freely on the road.  Bovines may seem quite docile but they are still quite large and I am sure that colliding with one would take both me and my bike out (LOL).

With all this direct access to locations and associated issues why would I be interested in social media for information?  There are 2 major reasons for this desire.  The first is that there is an scarcity of traditional media coverage for local issues.  At best there may be a one or two minute item on the local Dallas news regarding an issue in McKinney.  I have yet to see a deep dive on a local issue.  One that would fully digest the pros and cons of an issue.  Like most towns in the area there are a couple of local newspapers but they usually only publish once a week.  They may have an online offering but again it is usually 2 or 3 days behind.  So for up to the minute information social media may be the best source.  Also with local media I have also found it difficult at times to gather basic information.  As an example on local issue is the construction of a concrete plant in the area.  I had to go through 3 articles before I found a location that I was able to reference on google maps.  The first 2 articles referred to the location as being adjacent to a soccer field and a mile from a wild life sanctuary.  It is important to understand how our children and the environment will be affected.  It is equally important to have basic facts when making a decision.  I do admit that I knew exactly where the concrete plant is being built.  The area is quite popular with the local cycling community and I have ridden by there several times.

My second reason for seeking input from social media is to keep my biases in check.  I have endorsed the use of my bicycle as a way of getting close to an issue.  However I will acknowledge that just because I can get close to an issue does not mean I fully understand it.  Standing on a roadside and listening to a plane fly overhead does not mean that I can fully appreciate how it would affect a home owner that is in the flight path.  I may perceive what my eyes see differently than another person.  Social media is a way of validating my perceptions.  Specifically I attended our Mayors information session on the proposed.  This was a Q&A session with the mayor and one of the consultants hired to assess the project.  I will have to say that the Mayor was quite forthcoming with his responses and I felt that he honestly and sincerely answered all questions.  Even though I felt he was sincere it does not mean that I fully understood all of the information.  I went to a local Facebook group that has had a number of post regarding the airport.  Since I was trying to filter out any biases I may have had I focused on posts and comments that began with "I attended the mayor's session..."  I did find a couple of well composed posts and comments by people who claimed to have attended the session.  From them I was able to be more confident in my assessment of the information presented.

In summary I think we can use social media as a check to make sure we have assessed information correctly.  Only though, if we have directly experienced the information.  I think I would be very skeptical of my ability to be informed solely on the information presented on any social media platform.