On Facebook, It Turns Out, It Does Matter Who You Are
Facebook’s old whitelisting system created an unbalanced, tiered system of moderation
Social media is where the world comes together, where everyone from the Pope to the grocery store clerk, and the megawatt pop-star to the Uber driver can share their thoughts equally.
Except nothing is equal. The status we have in real life (IRL) carries through to our digital ones. And it’s not subtle. Verified tags instantly let you know who on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and other platforms are important people. No longer are we all just humans chatting on social. We’re normals engaging with celebrities, politicians, popstars, and Presidents.
What is true is that we can all make the same mistakes. A soccer star can try to clear his name by attempting to smear the name of his accuser on social media. A one-time president could casually post threatening, angry, and violence-inducing messages on any platform he chooses. Notables and everyday folks are all capable of these online transgressions, but we are not treated equally and haven’t been for a long time.
A damning new Wall Street Journal report paints a picture of the two worlds, of special people and average users, that existed for years on Facebook. The paper combed through…
