THE UNSOCIAL MEDIA

Trump, ‘fake news’ driving away users

Politics is killing Facebook. Social media used to be for parents to show off their kids, girls to flaunt their fit bods and foodies to share their latest decadent meal.

Now most people’s feeds are filled with their friends sharing news articles and expressing their disgust with President Trump.

You used to go to social media to escape your hectic day and enjoy some mindless moments. No more!

It’s not that friends are wrong to be mad at Trump, it’s just that everyone seems to think they are political analysts now. It’s exhausting to see all the fighting going on among friends. Luckily the unfollow button is available so you can keep your friends and not hurt their feelings but get them out of your feed. Unfortunately that means you miss the fun vacation photos, but at least there’s less vitriol while you scroll.

Donald Trump is the first U.S. president to choose social media as his main medium to reach constituents. And he’s the worst offender of hateful, hurtful tweets.

One in particular that was very unpresidential — Trump claimed that Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski courted him for an interview at Mar-aLago.

“She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!” the president wrote.

So it’s no surprise that Facebook’s stock took a nosedive and saw its largest loss ever of $120 billion this week, and Twitter is also seeing sharp sell-offs. Plus the younger generation prefers social media platforms like Snapchat.

Not only are the users bothered by all the political punditry, but the fact that Facebook has been accused of helping the left get its message out and block conservative conversations. The term “fake news” is the direct result of Facebook.

You can’t trust the content on Facebook anymore.

Facebook has even caused violence from fake news.

In 2016, a South Carolina man read online that a pizza restaurant in Washington was harboring young kids as sex slaves as part of a child-abuse ring led by Hillary Clinton. It was shared across Facebook and Twitter. The crazy man opened fire at the pizza joint. Luckily no one was hurt.

Facebook’s best days may be behind it or at least as long as Trump is president and the country remains so divided.

STAFF PHOTO BY JIM MAHONEY, ABOVE; AP PHOTO, TOP PRESIDENTIAL SOAPBOX: President Trump communicates directly to the people through his Twitter account, often taking shots at his political foes and unflattering news reports.