Nobody is Talking About It

Welcome to the Web Log Post! This is a new series from Stuff Keeps Happening to feature blogs, insight, and general thoughts from Your Boy Truly.

"I can't believe nobody is talking about this!"

You sure about that?

I often see this sentiment in the comments of my videos and other current events creators. Some rendition of it, at least: people amazed that "nobody is talking" about some news event they've just learned of.

Except usually it's being talked about, they just haven't seen it before. Those are two very, very different things.

I want to be clear: that is not a dig at anyone. Nobody is able to see everything and know everything. We are human beings, not omnipotent forces of current events knowledge. Simultaneously, the vast majority of information we take in during our day is thrust upon us, not stuff we sought out specifically.

If you are not in the habit of specifically browsing local news outlets and public information resources, then you probably aren't going to be aware of most things that are happening in your area. The modern internet has made it feel like we should know everything all the time. That is deeply, deeply untrue. Embrace the lack of control and understanding. It sucks, but it's human.

I talk about stuff that is happening. That's what this entire website is. I always link to all of my sources: reports, primary sources, or what-have-you. What floors me is when I cover a story and cite The Associated Press, and still receive comments along the lines of "I can't believe nobody is talking about this" or "the mainstream media would never cover this!"—they literally did, that is why I am talking about it.

The Feed Became the Conveyor Belt

The previous generation of the web and general news consumption looked like this: you follow a blog's RSS feed, or you follow an account on Twitter, and then you read the reverse-chronological feed of information at your leisure. Then algorithms began to seep in, and we started seeing recommended posts alongside the content we follow. This means new things we didn't previously anticipate would pop into view, sometimes from different corners of the internet.

Today, people actively avoid hitting "follow" for creators on apps like TikTok because they fear The Algorithm will no longer show them that creator's videos. The Algorithm is in complete control of what we see. Whereas before we'd seek out and subscribe to relevant sources, now it spills out onto us like a water balloon full of Spaghetti-O's.

The result is an unprecedented level of "I've never heard of this before." Combine this with the very real concern about egregious goings-ons being covered up, and we find ourselves steeped in a paranoia that Nobody is Talking About This.

An Easy Fix

We're not that far gone. If something surprises you, take a sec to search. Especially if someone is telling you that "nobody is talking about this." Be sure to look beyond just the front page of a default Google search, and definitely pop over to the "news" tab on whatever search engine you're using. You will almost definitely find articles about anything remotely noteworthy. It may just be smaller, local outlets, but that is how local stories play out: they bubble around in local outlets until the story has enough information make it to a national publication, who then often will cite the local news network in a report of their own.

It isn't glamorous. In fact, it's tedious and boring. But that is the reality most of the time: it takes material time to learn enough about a story to be able to write something about it without just taking wild guesses and risking the spread of misinformation. Trust me, I've mistakenly published incorrect info plenty of times to have learned that lesson.

~ Dev