A Facebook Initiative

On January 19, 2006, I launched a column (then probably called a blog) named “Platform” on the website of The Century Foundation where I was a senior fellow in addition to my continuing efforts on behalf of PublicAffairs, the publishing company I had founded.

Over the next eight years, the columns appeared almost weekly, first, on The Daily Beast and for many of those years on The Atlantic.com. My Century editor, Jason Renker, and I compiled a list of recipients for direct delivery, eventually numbering about 600. And I overcame the slightly brusque feeling I had when other people would send me their writing that I had not necessarily asked for. As the saying goes, if the tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, why bother?

In 2017, I decided to revive the format and put the pieces on Medium.com, adding an identifying masthead and eventually, an editor, Athena Bryan, who had been a colleague at PublicAffairs with the idea of doing a piece every two weeks or so.

My objective, aside from finding a way to write down my thoughts and ideas that would have greater spread than my living room or with friends and family at lunch or dinner was to learn how to use social media. In 2006, Facebook was two years old and Twitter began that March. After all, in today’s communications world, Facebook and Twitter have become a basic resource for news, views and book promotion. Even if this resource is of vexed value, we need to recognize its influence. I remember when it was thought to be corrosive to watch too much television or, as a teenager, to talk on the telephone (when the family only had one line)

I compared the challenge to learning how to drive stick shift cars in my 20s, reading a business balance sheet, making a perfect fruit smoothie or changing a cloth diaper (Okay, I never did do that).

I have yet to master to my satisfaction the social media protocol. The most reaction I have ever received was not to a column but to a complaint that on Google, my picture had been replaced with one of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and I wanted to reclaim my image. What makes a piece readable on Facebook, Twitter or Medium to its vast audiences? Why do I get almost daily friend requests from people I do not know? Ignoring the invitations seems sniffy. On the other hand, why would hundreds of people ask me for friendship when there is no evidence that they read what I write? And now that I have over a thousand friends, why do I hear from so very few? I have noticed that would-be authors or people who have just published books are probably most among the requests I get. And when I can figure out that is the case, I always say yes. I would want the same courtesy if I was in their position.

On this holiday weekend in lockdown and deciding that Central Park would be too crowded for a bike ride, I decided to write this Medium.com Platform piece and then get it on Facebook myself along with a link to the original column from 2006 Media and Journalism– Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. Once I have done that, I will take this small challenge off my list, when there are so many very big ones that we all face in these times.

Here is a link to the first column as it appeared picked up by Mother Jones (thanks for that)

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2006/01/media-and-journalism-yesterday-today-and-tomorrow.