In the age of apps, everyone is an everything. Instagram's filters made everyone a photographer. YouTube's audience made everyone a performer/actor. Blogging sites like this one made everyone authors. With all the content being produced, how can content consumers know what is real or good anymore?
I've been struggling with this question for a while and with Facebook's announcement that they are "getting into the newsletter game" brought it top-of-mind again. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against supporting independent writers but with the rise of the inbox explosion (Statista reports roughly 306.4 billion emails were sent and received each day in 2020) do we really need another avenue by which people can send emails? I may be an "old fogey" when it comes to digital media, but I like being able to go to my groups on Facebook when I want a bit of social interaction -- perhaps to see what the NYTCooking group is recommending for dinner or tips on how to keep my always-dying rubber tree plant alive. That is separate and I can go there when I want that type of content. I don't need Facebook continually pulling me back to their platform by being in my email inbox. Yes, the argument can be made that I can simply not sign up for the newsletters but my main question is: is this needed? With the various other email platforms independent authors can use to thoughtfully put their content into the world, do we need Facebook making it easier for amateur writers to add to the billions of emails sent daily?
Secondly, with Facebook's issue with alt-right groups pushing their agenda on the platform, how will they prevent these types of groups from getting stronger by getting into the user's inbox? To me, receiving long-form content in my inbox that I have subscribed to adds a level of credibility to the content. How will Facebook ensure the emails being sent to subscribed users are in line with the groups the users subscribed to in the first place?
What do you think about the rise of newsletters? Am I completely wrong and just need to "get with the program"? Disagree with me.
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