I read John Harris’s article (A challenge to Facebook’s reach and power is long overdue, Opinion, 8 December) with interest. There is no doubt that Facebook is different to traditional mainstream media like the TV and press, but what makes it so unique is that it is almost like a living developing organism which has evolved from being a global friendship network into a news outlet and debating forum.
The mainstream media is brilliant at reporting major news stories such as a royal wedding or a terrorist attack. But when it comes to reporting the real world outside its self-contained bubble, it fails badly, unlike mediums like Facebook, which come into their own by providing a window on to a world that is beyond the understanding of the politically correct and sanitised media.
The mainstream media does not do complex micro-politics well. Social media such as Facebook went some way to winning the election for Trump as it gave a populist movement a political voice, when the vast majority of the American media were hopelessly biased against him and are now in denial.
David Lockwood
St Helens, Merseyside
• Mark Zuckerberg says that Facebook is about “giving everyone the power to share our experiences so that we can understand each other a bit better”. That sounds very noble, but this power is precisely why many people refuse point-blank to sign up to this pernicious network. It trades on fictitious “friendships” which fill a gap in so many people’s lives. Faced with the monetisation of such a vital human need, we do indeed need an alternative.
To escape from its corporate embrace, your readers may like to hear of a non-profit and decentralised social network called diaspora, which was created by four students. It’s a free and open-source social network which is run on computer servers scattered all over the world that don’t belong to a large corporation. You have the freedom to use your own name or another identity. In the words of the diaspora website, “You own your data. You don’t sign over rights to a corporation or other interest who could use it. In addition, you choose who sees what you share, using Aspects. With diaspora, your friends, your habits, and your content is your business … not ours!”
Of course, diaspora is a small network compared with the omnipotent Facebook but that may be a part of its appeal.
Maurice George
Ormskirk, Lancashire
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