Once upon a time, Dog Blog (“The Official Blog Of Prairie Dog“) had three-plus posts daily, which was pretty damn impressive for a volunteer blog (volunteer = “no one got paid”). Greg, Paul, Shane, Jorge and others did (and in Shane and Jorge’s case, do) a great job writing a hell of a lot of stuff. But as I’ve said before, it’s been a lot quieter in 2016 because these days most of us don’t have the time, energy or motivation to spend 15-20 hours a week writing stuff for free.
I mean, writing in public can be a fun hobby, but it’s not that much fun.* Besides, like pretty much all media outlets, we’ve laid-off half our staff in the last several years so we’re (me and the freelancers) all busier with the actual paper.
Having said that…
We’ve gotta get this thing going again, at least a little bit, because it’s just wrong to restrict our online opinions to social media.
If the world didn’t already know Facebook can be dangerous, the recent election of Donald Trump proved it. For years, Facebook has amplified the voices of profiteering bullshit purveyors and demented, sexist, racist and anti-social maniacs who support the agenda of Trump and other toxic politicians. Too often, it’s been a magic looking glass that sucks viewers in and tosses them down Internet rabbit holes of nonsense, conspiracy theories, racism, sexism, homophobia and even radicalization.
Thanks to Facebook, a lot of U.S. voters brainwashed themselves into believing a lying, self-absorbed, thin-skinned, ignorant, selfish, silver-spoon-fed millionaire would make a better president than a highly qualified woman with a lifetime of experience in politics, international affairs and public service.
It’s nuts. And it’s a problem.
That’s not to say Facebook doesn’t have value. Many users share smart, fact-based, informative articles, proving Mark Zuckerberg’s $350-plus billion rabbit hole can lead to knowledge and wisdom as well as ignorance, hatred and insanity. I’ve often found it a useful tool professionally, too. It’s a good way to reach people I want to talk to for stories. And personally, Facebook arguments have helped me fine-tune (and occasionally correct) my opinions and ideas. So I’m certainly not going to shut down my account anytime soon.
Nonetheless, it’s clear that too often, Facebook is a vector for the spread of fake news, anti-science flim-flam and outright fascist propaganda, not to mention using other people’s work to generate advertising revenue. (a rant for another day). It’s annoying, and I’m going to cut down the time I spend on Facebook as a result.
Besides, I’d rather give my free time to my (local!) business, which does pay me.
Anyhoo, all this rambling means means you can expect a minimum of a couple blog posts from me a week going forward. More, if they’re dumb jokes or pictures of animals.
Speaking of dumb things, I promised you a weird croissant. Here you go.
Cheers!
Editor Steve
*Unless you’re a masochist who likes constantly being told you’re wrong** by people who didn’t read what you wrote, ignored facts you linked to, and concern-trolled the shit out of you every time you made a goddamn joke. Then hell yeah, it’s a blast.
**Though I’ve always appreciated and enjoyed Barb Saylor’s proofreading. Always. Thanks, Barb!