Social media shocks the media; Long Island developers, not so much

Stealing from Jack Shafer, I call bogusity on this AP social media trend story.

"Opponents of building developments are taking a page from birthday party planners and flash mobbers, employing social media sites like Facebook to coalesce their cause — and the industry is sitting up and taking notice."

As evidence to back up that claim, the writer uses as his primary example a Facebook page built by mommy bloggers against a Huntington Town development. He also throws in a few random examples throughout the country. Unfortunately, the trend story here is an old trend story, at least as it concerns Huntington:

"[One lawmaker] withdrew his support because Huntington Democratic Party insiders wanted to take the housing issue off the table so Republicans couldn't use it against the Democratic incumbents in the elections next year. Councilwoman Susan Berland, who had straddled the fence for months, finally came out against the AvalonBay proposal this summer. She wanted less density."

Well, at least one developer wasn't taken in.

"We've been very nervous," developer Mitchell D. Rechler said. "The good news is you can get the facts out, but what we've also seen is that the facts can continually get buried with misinformation.

"Do you really want to … respond to every single comment that comes through? Is that the best way to dedicate your time and money? I don’t personally think so."

But I guess it's easier to give credit to mommy bloggers than it is to blame typical, myopic politics.