Move Over Overton Window, Meet Zuckerburg’s Scroll

From The Farrell File:

In political discourse there is a theory known as the Overton Window. It was conceived by the former Vice President of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Joseph Overton. The theory is used by pundits and media managers to determine what topics they should discuss.

In general, the theory holds that the window includes a range of policies which are considered politically acceptable in the current climate of public opinion to discuss. Basically, the Overton Window is the range of ideas the public is willing to accept. Politicians and pundits can discuss and recommend action on such matters without being considered too extreme—or worse, being ignored.

The theory holds that proponents of issues outside the window must first educate or persuade the public move or expand the window before their matters can be effectively addressed. This concept is likely familiar to outlier groups such as libertarians or socialists. If you otherwise attempt to discuss or bring to light matters not currently within the Overton Window your words will fall on deaf ears.

Social media, for all it has enhanced and expanded the potential of person-to-person interaction, has been unable to transcend the limits of the Overton Window. In fact, the Facebook feed has simplified and further limited the window. Instead of Overton’s Window, we now have what I have coined ‘Zuckerberg’s Scroll.’

At any given time a Facebook user is exposed to a range of topics. “Likes” and “shares” now prioritize certain topics over others. Users who have more “friends” or followers are more able to shift the focus of the scroll, but only to varying degrees determined by their social ranking in the Facebook community. For the rest of us, we are at mercy to the demands and concerns of the general public.

For example, Tom Brady’s battle with the NFL over his suspension stemming from supposedly deflated footballs, permeated everyone’s news feed for months. But perhaps you wanted to talk about the gross misallocation of tax dollars to build NFL stadiums—too bad, no one is going to listen to you.

People can argue that this phenomenon is not unique to social media, however, Facebook drives so much internet traffic that what trends well on Facebook determines what the media pays attention to in one way or another.

Zuckerberg’s Scroll is fickle, too. Pictures of atrocities get a lot of play, so we are seeing a lot about Syrian refugees and pictures of dead children lately. ISIS, a directly related subject, is only popular when they commit a new horrific act to capture the public’s attention. And while ISIS can be acceptable to discuss, the deteriorating situation and uptick in violence in Turkey is ignored; even though said violence will affect the fight against ISIS and further destabilize the region.

Social media has enabled journalists to reach more people. Unfortunately, it has also taken the Overton Window and oversaturated it with topics that are then boiled down to their most simplistic representations. In this reality, I can’t write what I want to, I must look to the Scroll and determine what it is people want to read next.

Is it an ideal reality for ambitious writers and journalists? Truly not. But it is the reality we work in. We can try to buck that reality, but it will only result in irrelevance. Instead we have to concede that nobody cares about whatever issue it is we think they should care about and set about the arduous task of convincing them to expand the scroll.

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