Sunday Focus: "Are you sure you want to see this?"

     After the live Facebook posting of a woman next to her bleeding-to-death boyfriend.  Facebook is trying to get a handle on its LIVE feature. They're adding a warning to video of LIVE feeds that asks the question:

Are you SURE you want to see this?

The impact is likely to be the same as the ages old broadcast warning: "This report may be difficult for some viewers to watch..."

i.e. It will increase viewership. And Facebook has to know that, in spite of their statements of concern..

"Live video is a relatively new and growing format, and we are committed to iterating and improving on how we handle content, address violations and keep the community safe."

      No, "Live video" is NOT "a new and growing format". Broadcasters have used it forever. It may be new to Zuckerberg, but not to the world. 

CNN quotes veteran media observer Al Tompkins:

"Facebook Live came of age this week in the way that radio did in World War II, TV did when John Kennedy was killed, cable TV did during the first Gulf War and Twitter did in the Arab Spring," Tompkins wrote.

I hope the comparison is a stretch. Is this The Truman TV Show (1998) come to life? Is this going to be a better way for Americans to learn what is happening?
 
HERE is the full CNN story.

     LIVE has always been dangerous, and because it is in the hands of amateurs who are also stakeholders in the event being sent out LIVE makes it even more dangerous.

[Sunday Focus is a regular feature of www.TimLennox.com.]

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