Education Law

Facebook is the Local Newspaper Now ...

Facebook is the new local newspaper ... in case you hadn't noticed. 

Case in point ... the Pinckneyville Post today. The "Post" publishes an actual newspaper (I've seen it, it is about 10 pages long, typical newspaper size, typically 2 actual stories, obituaries, classifieds and not much else). You should know that Pinckneyville is one town south of where I grew up and it is my wife's town, actually, which is why I follow it. It has 5,000 some people, but only 3,000 some real residents because it has a prison which adds to the population. In addition to the actual newspaper, it has 2,000 Facebook followers (I can only assume that exceeds their paper subscriptions). 

This discussion took place on Facebook today. Give it a quick glace, but here is a summary. The transportation department removed one of the signs leading into the city that had been there for several years that celebrated a high school track champion for the state of Illinois. The newspaper did its investigation and posted the results on the Facebook page, along with the photo. Then, 25 comments later (so far) a group of saddened local residents had decided to petition the local high school board to name the new track after the girl (as well as find and give the old sign to the girl). 

This is a really, really, really common thing on Facebook and this is a super insignificant incident anywhere outside of Pinckneyville, Illinois. But, that's the point. And it is one that school officials need to understand. Facebook is the local newspaper now. It is also the local gathering place. It is the local front steps of the Courthouse, too. It is all that, and more, wrapped up into a single technology that makes democracy easier.

Full post as published by Edjurist on March 23, 2011 (boomark / email).