Kathrine Nero
Once upon a time, posting a headline or changing your social media profile picture felt like a small but meaningful way to engage with the world. And in some ways, it was. Social media opened the doors to voices and movements that legacy media had long ignored. The feed became the front page.
But now? That same feed feels more like a stage.
Today, we’re not just sharing our views. We’re curating them. We’re performing citizenship – and mistaking that performance for participation.
The Performance Problem
Posting is easy. Commenting takes seconds. But voting and enacting change requires far more work. And scrolling – while it can lead to real learning – rarely leads to action.
Social platforms reward visibility, not depth. The person with the most compelling take, the sharpest meme, or the largest audience gets traction. But democracy isn’t a contest for clout. It’s a process. Often slow, unglamorous and deeply local.
The danger? We start to believe that what looks like engagement is engagement. That posting about an issue is the same as doing something about it.
Journalists Are Caught in the Middle
Here’s where it gets messier. Newsrooms now compete not just with each other, but with creators, influencers, and AI-generated “experts” who are unburdened by ethics, sourcing or corrections. And the audience has a tough time distinguishing which is which.
In an algorithm-driven world, even journalists are often forced to play the game – to make their reporting “content-friendly.” We would often discuss during my time in newsrooms that stories about ideas are tough to explain, and tougher still to consume. Stories about concrete people, places, events? Much easier to digest.
But those idea stories – sometimes those are the ones that are the most important. As a result of playing to the consumer, context can get cropped, especially when a story’s success is measured in clicks, ratings and eyeballs.
It’s a lose-lose: Reporters have to cater to a system that can sometimes undermine their mission. And audiences have to work harder than ever to find what’s real.
So What Do We Do?
We rethink how we show up.
· Stop scrolling past the boring stuff. I know, I know. This is a tough one. Local ballot issues, city council races, public meetings -they may be the opposite of sexy, but they can be the engines of change.
· Value substance over style. Follow outlets and creators that prioritize accuracy, even when it’s not slick. And if you can’t find an objective outlet you like, try one from both sides and compare.
· Treat social posts like starting points, not conclusions. Let a headline push you toward a longer read. Let a clip nudge you toward the full video.
· Support real journalism. Subscribe. Share. Engage. Journalism doesn’t survive without an audience that cares more about facts than filters.
Because if we don’t invest in truth, we’ll get a feed full of fiction.
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