Facebook is a conversation between friends

A commenter in the Wall Street Journal recently made this remark about Facebook:

 There's something that's been bothering me about all these social media kerfuffles.   Why do so many people on both sides think that people are so credulous as to believe anything they read on Facebook?  

You'd have to be a severe combination of ignorant and gullible , and I just don't think there are that many childlike people around.

This is a common  misconception about Facebook.  It's not an alternative version of CNN, ABC, the New York Times, or any part of what's referred to as "The Media."  Facebook is fundamentally different by its nature.

Here's my reply.

The answer to your question is that Facebook - for most people - is a conversation with friends.  It's not some potato on CNN spouting communist propaganda.  

Now, your friend may be wrong or have an idea with which you disagree. But because they are your friends, they probably agree with you.  Along with cat videos , pictures of the food they are eating, pictures of their kids and grandkids, their vacations, etc., they share ideas they find interesting, 

That's what Facebook is for most people.  It's a conversation with people you know but who are not in the same room or sitting at your dinner table.

So when Zuckerberg's minions try to silence your friends and you from the free discussion of ideas, when they label your beliefs and expressions as "wrong," or "misinformation,"  or remove you from their platform altogether, that's right up there with The Stasi - the secret police - coming for you because of a private conversation you are having.