The Facebook Effect On The CE Camera Column

You all know Facebook, don't you? The addictive social media site that allows you to play computer games while viewing other people's lunches? And you all follow the side bar of Facebook News don't you? The one that tells us which superstar has carked it or been indicted for harrassment. It's my preferred window to the world, I can tell you. But I am somewhat concerned about the effect that Facebook journalism might have upon your reception of this column. It's all very well for marginal organisations like Reuters, The BBC, and the Washington Post to go off on their own little tangents with their reports - this is the Camera Electronic weblog column and we are expected to hold to higher standards. We're not allowed to tell you virtual truths or predicated press releases - when we report something it must be either 100% accurate or 100% imaginary - no middle ground. This may seem a restrictive thing - after all journalists are generally given some " wiggle room " when it comes to the stories they file. Indeed, on some Facebook feeds this " wiggle room " looks like the Scarborough Beach Snakepit on Rock and Roll Nite. But we here at the Camera Electronics editorial office are bound by a code of honour: " All the news that fits, we print. " Joe Pulitzer could not have said it better. So what does this mean for you - the week-day reader of this column? How can you tell whether the information that it provides is true and helpful...or just the product of a tortured imagination and too much coffee? Well, look carefully at the images that accompany the writing. If they are repeats of a brochure or website you are entitled to be skeptical - asking yourself whether the writer has actually seen the equipment or whether he is just grabbing things from Google and stitching them together. Again - look at the specifications quoted. If they are so detailed as to suggest men in white lab coats and IBM machines whirring in the backgound you can pretty well guess that the numbers have been stripped of an advertising brochure with no real knowledge of what they mean. On the other hand, if the pictures are of toy cars, dead roses, the houses at the end of the street, etc. you can be sure they are a genuine product - not just a screen grab. If the specification reads " it did not explode in my hand " you can be sure that it was actually tried out, and did not explode. If the assessment of the object in question is tinged with cynicism, it has the advantage of realism - not salesmanship. In all things you are encouraged to think for yourselves. It would be appreciated if you thought the same as the writer... Never heard of Facebook? Congratulations. You have an hour more of your life each day to enjoy than those of us who are afflicted with it. But you do miss out on cat videos.