Facebook has been in a gradual decline for some time now. Part of that is due to some competition taking over, like X (formerly Twitter), and Meta-owned Instagram. But things really began turning sour in the last few years, and most importantly, since the 2020 Presidential election in the United States.
That was when Facebook and their CEO Mark Zuckerberg decided to suppress information from mostly Conservative media outlets, which was met with intense rebuttal. From there, people have just gradually left the platform for greener pastures. The recent assassination attempt on Fromer President Donald Trump though as shown Facebook's true colors once again.
News outlets, while covering the story, saw their posts drowned out by whatever the Facebook algorithm decided to put on people's timelines that day. Instead of coverage of one of the biggest events in US history, they gave people funny stunt videos or news stories about people saving the planet.
Garrett Seawright of Barrett Media says all of this has led to companies dropping the platform, as it is just a waste of time.
"Media companies, whether it is radio, TV or digital...if your stuff is not being seen on Facebook, then there is no point making an effort to try and get it to be seen," he says.
That is a bit of a problem too, considering the vast majority of people now use social media as their primary news sources. Which is terrifying in itself, but that is beside the point.
Other platforms have had issues, too. The site X, formerly known as Twitter, has seen countless 'bot' accounts pop up, and disseminate false information. Same has happened with Facebook, and Instagram.
But even as social media does provide some good in news media, it is not meant as a primary news source. It is here to stay surely, but Seawright says it will never be the cream of the crop.
"There is a time and place for great radio and television coverage...where immediacy is not the driving factor...I do not think social media will ever completely take over," he says. "It will continue being a distribution platform."
We have seen newspaper all but completely flatline in recent years. That has been thanks to social media. But, at least for now, radio and TV still hold the crown for Kings of Media. But if we are not careful, social media could take it soon enough.
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