Saturday 26 September 2015

What's tending on BBC Trending



The BBC Trending blog, which reports some of the things that 'trend' on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc, can often be interesting; however, following on from the previous post, does it end up giving us a distorted view of the world? 

I've listed all the recent posts below. 

Although there's some variety there (and much that's of interest), it's genuinely striking when you read them en masse just how many of them reflect the prevailing obsessions of the modern Left - especially race, racism, gender and sexism. 

Even ones with headlines you might expect to be about something other than race or gender end up being about them (such as 'So what if you moved somewhere before it was cool?' or 'One man's rant against live streaming and Periscope' or 'Damonsplaining: Matt Damon accused of insensitivity' or ''Smile' tool draws criticism at Apple launch').

And it's not just race and gender (though it's mainly race and gender). Feminism, body image issues, anti-Islam/anti-Arab sentiment, etc. also take their places as recurring themes, as if BBC Trending is acting as an offshoot of the Guardian's Social Affairs unit. 

Plus there are the various positive stories about migrants.

Now, pace the last post, is this bias down to the BBC or is it simply because Twitter & other recent forms of social media (i.e. not so much blogs!) are absolutely dominated by the Left on matters of political importance? 

In other words, is BBC Trending merely reflecting what actually is trending in this strange, unrepresentative world, dominated by left-wing social media activists?

Anyhow, here's the list (all with links) for you to check out:

2 comments:

  1. just how many of them reflect the prevailing obsessions of the modern Left - especially race, racism, gender and sexism.


    You don't have to go to BBC Trending. You find these topics getting a regular airing across the BBC. But remember - the BBC is not left wing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Indeed. But BBCT is about as perfect an encapsulation of what the BBC can do with an edit suite, in and ignored, to suit itself as can be conjured.

      Delete

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