The other day I found a cache of old newspapers and photos in a filing cabinet at the Free Press.

It got me thinking about the ‘old days.’ Not 100 years ago, or anything of that magnitude because I wasn’t around then, but the days before social media, when the idea of Facebook and Twitter were as pie-in-the-sky as a UFO sighting in downtown 100 Mile House.

As a cub reporter, my first real job was at the Kelowna Capital News, at the time an independently owned newspaper. It was a bustling hub with its own press downstairs, a few reporters and a darkroom to develop pictures.

It bedazzled me. We got tips by fax or phone or people walking in with hot news or an oddly misshapen vegetable. We were told to get out and talk to people, to walk the beat. Back then you could check the night’s docket at the cop shop and chat with the chief. There were no gatekeepers, and most people were willing to say their piece and stand behind it.

And when they had a beef they wrote letters to the editor, airing their views on the editorial pages. There were sometimes so many letters, we couldn’t run them all at once.

I miss those days.

At the Free Press, we’re lucky if we get a letter a month. Instead, people seem to prefer to air their thoughts on social media, and in many cases, get their information – or misinformation – from it too. As the saying goes ‘a lie can travel around the world before the truth has a chance to put its boots on.’

That’s really true with social media. What happened recently in the U.S., for example, was largely fuelled because of misinformation spread through social media. Here at home, we’re also seeing more people taking to Facebook to attack or bully those with a different view. The other day, a woman angrily cursed and insulted everyone on a community site before wishing cancer on the entire village of Clinton.

That post was eventually removed but outbursts spewing hate and racism and vitriol appear to be happening more and more often. It’s exhausting having to read and verify every post on our site.

One day we will likely look back and wonder why we ever thought it was such a good idea to let people anonymously attack others or put civic discourse in the hands of a company like Facebook.

There will always be those who criticize newspapers, but unlike Facebook, we are held accountable. Our door is open to the public and we always welcome letters to the editor. Good luck talking to Mark Zuckerberg.

@kellysinoskikelly.sinoski@100milefreepress.netLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.