Plea to journalists: Stop using social media as cover for bogus trend stories

The Washington Post
Style writer Monica Hesse calls on journalists to stop using social media story angles as “a new slipcover for an old couch — a way to dress up stories that are otherwise sagging and tired.” She calls out bogus trend stories in which the only new element is that Facebook or Twitter are part of longstanding human behaviors like spousal cheating or school bullying. “People cheated on spouses before Facebook. And … bullying, social isolation and teenage heartbreak are not made sadder by the fact that they now exist online as well as in the corners of middle school locker rooms.” CJR Executive Editor Mike Hoyt speculates that “what’s happening is that editors of a certain age are starting to discover [social media] and are getting a little amazed by it.” || Earlier: How Jack Shafer calls out bogus trend stories