The question that I asked on the cover of this article pertains to everything that is social media here in Bismarck and Mandan...

...and even in the smallest or largest of cities around our country, there are people that detest "who" and "what" lives in their social media scene. I came across the idea for this story through a comment I read on what I consider to be the hub of Bismarck, the eyes and ears of our North Dakota city - The Bismarck People Reporting News Facebook Page. If you are unfamiliar with this group, I personally am a fan of this platform - you can pretty much go on there and seek out some suggestions if you have a question about the best place to have a mechanic look at the noise in your engine, many times people have posted information on lost or found dogs - sometimes others have vented frustration with not receiving their mail in a timely fashion - you get the idea. Ian Sweep does a terrific job of monitoring the BPRN - there are some rules, and if you break them you could get blackballed.

Social media can easily spread rumors

That's what took place last week, a simple few sentences of what "I heard from someone else..." post landed on The Bismarck People Reporting News - a rumor if you will, that had not been verified about a local business possibly closing. Several people were annoyed right away, and I don't blame them. NEVER report on or WRITE about something until you have checked yourself that it is authentic. Sadly the rumors turned out to be true, but the business didn't make its official announcement until days later. One such group BPRN member pointed that out yesterday - labeling it "Sleazy" - Social media to blame?

"All you care about is getting people to click on your story - so your company makes money on it - Click-Bait is your number one goal"

I have been accused of that several times since I began working here, and I can tell you this in 100% honesty, I don't care one bit if you enter my story or not. I would hope you don't stop at the title, and if it interests you at all, continue reading the whole thing. I look for ideas in Bismarck/Mandan, and all of North Dakota to hopefully inform and entertain others - my main focus is human interest stories. My boss is right on it when it comes to his articles on our local weather forecasts, and how to prepare for a possible upcoming blizzard. This job is unlike any others I have ever had in RADIO in over 29 years, it's more than just coming in for 5 hours and talking over a Led Zeppelin tune, we are required to write, and I'm not that great at it. However I do know this, the words I choose to put down on paper are of course in hopes of everything positive, for in my opinion, to have your mind set on anything negative is not doing anyone any good - clicks or not.


 

103 iconic photos that capture 103 years of world history

Stacker gathered some of the most iconic images from the past 103 years, beginning in 1918 and leading up to 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

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