My morning routine as I eat breakfast often includes watching Joe Scarborough, Morning Joe, on MSNBC. I’m not a fan of Joe, but his news program is revealing and informative. I find Joe long-winded, and he takes too long to make his point or allow his guest to respond. Frequently, Mika Brzezinski offsets him when he goes overboard. Their coverage of the national news is timely, and their interviews are efficient in understanding the topic.

This morning’s discussion became heated when the subject turned to Facebook and Twitter when Mika and Joe explained, “…they see Facebook and Twitter as ‘publishers,’ and such, they want the social media platforms to be held accountable by the same laws as news organization…”

They feel both social media platforms were negligent in monitoring and eliminating “misinformation,” and “disinformation.” Mika’s rant continued saying, “Perhaps there wouldn’t be people dead. Perhaps there wouldn’t be people following false scientific information about the coronavirus. Perhaps there wouldn’t have been some sort of insurrection at the Capitol that was promulgated all over your sites. Perhaps there wouldn’t have been so much hatred and disinformation. You have shown that it drops just by some random act that you decided to take at the last minute…”

I agree that social media platforms need to be responsible for the proliferation of hatred and discrimination. But I disagree that they are responsible for the posting of erroneous information by their users. I don’t feel they are a publisher like the New York Times or Washington Post. They aren’t public news media, as is CNN, NBC, or Fox News. They don’t report on material or activities where accuracy is paramount.

I have been guilty of reading a post on Facebook and then sharing it with my friends and followers as if the information was authentic and later found that it was in error. Is that Facebook or Twitter’s responsibility that I hit the send button before I checked out the validity of its contents? Social media is not culpable for me, not verifying and believing the details. They’re not accountable for the comments I post if my remarks are inciting hostility.

Facebook, when it started, was a communication device we could use to stay in touch with our family and friends. We could share pictures of the birthday party, the summer vacation, and our children and grandchildren. I sent well wishes for birthdays, anniversaries, and condolences for losing a loved one. Facebook did well with this medium. But as it became more popular, we, the users, took it beyond its original intent.

Perhaps Joe and Mika are correct that social media has some blame in allowing the expansion of its site usage for political opinions that have become divisive. They may have allowed it, but we as users bear the liability for the escalation of ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation.’

When I started writing as a hobby, I wanted to draw attention to my work. Along with creating and maintaining a blog site, I used social media to link to my post. When other writers and I used Facebook as a platform to advertise and sell our books, they put an end to this use. They offered the use of paid advertising in its place. Some writers left Facebook and used other social media sites. Since my writing is a hobby and not an occupation or business, I’m happy to get any notice. I continue to use Facebook to link to my blog site.

I’ve never used Twitter and other social media as much as Facebook. I’ve never taken the time to understand how Twitter works. If I have a recent blog post, I link it on my Twitter page but don’t ‘Tweet’ to other groups to take advantage of its efficiency. Perhaps it’s an ease in usage that has expanded its use and fallen to the same abuse to spread hatred, discrimination, and untruthfulness. They didn’t disperse the ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation; their users are the guilty party. But just as on Facebook, they bear the liability for contributing to the divisiveness.

I am optimistic that once the leader of spreading untruths is out of office, we can heal from the escalation of hate and discrimination. Perhaps we can put the power of social media to ‘Step Toward Reconciliation.’ We can end the spread of ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation.’ Maybe we can spread love and treat our neighbors as we treat ourselves.