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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 2019)
Wednesday, February 13, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 7 Sisters business opts out of Big Data with no regrets By T. Lee Brown Correspondent The new owner of a ven- erable Sisters retail establish- ment has joined a hot new trend. Is it a brilliant new tech- nology, disrupting the book- selling business? On the contrary. Lane Jacobson, owner of Paulina S p r i n g s B o o k s s i n c e November 1, used the good old-fashioned medium of the email newsletter to announce: <Given the recent and continuing revelations about Facebook9s misuse of and seeming disregard for the privacy of its users and their data, I have elected to halt any further Paulina Springs Books activity on Facebook and Instagram (owned by Facebook). We take the pri- vacy of our customers very seriously, and we expect the same from organizations we partner with and platforms that we use.= The straw that broke the camel9s back, according to Jacobson, was news of a Facebook boycott by promi- nent civil rights supporters. A report for the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee revealed that a Russian influ- ence campaign <made an extraordinary effort to target African-Americans= via the social behemoth9s network. Reports show that a vari- ety of ploys were used on Facebook to suppress voter turnout. The Facebook- Instagram-WhatsApp corpo- rate empire is under scrutiny by politicians, businesses, the press, and citizens for a wide range of systemic abuses of public trust. A c c o r d i n g t o M e g y Karydes at Inc., customers are <wary of social media platforms right now. What we can do is build up our other marketing tools, like build- ing our email list or consider other ways to market to our customers.= The bookstore already takes a similar approach. <Paulina Springs is fortu- nate in that social media is not a huge part of our marketing strategy,= Jacobson told The Nugget. <We exist in a com- munity that operates outside of that.= Community is a common thread among the many busi- nesses and individuals aban- doning Facebook, and social media in general. This was observed in a recent roundup of trends to watch in 2019, conducted by Adobe Spark. The software company Adobe has enormous reach with creative and marketing professionals. Their apps are indispensable in the industry. <Several of our influenc- ers and insiders that we spoke to believed that creators and community builders will start moving away from the big platforms that do little to sup- port them or their communi- ties,= an Adobe blog reported. It went on, <As we con- tinue to define for ourselves how social media fits into our lives, we see communities getting creative with how and where they connect.= Brick-and-mortar, inde- pendent bookstores provide a connection point. <I definitely understand and appreciate what book- stores are to communities,= says Jacobson, who has been in the business about a decade. <The idea of algorithms and Amazon9s recommen- dations 4 that9s all based on where you9ve been,= he added. <Booksellers can help you figure out where you9re going.= Studies show that if a customer spends $100 at an independent local retailer, $48 will circulate throughout the local economy. Spend the same $100 at a big chainstore nearby, and only $14 stays local. Buying from online stores like Amazon drains money out of a community. A mere $1 remains local. Paulina Springs customers can curb online spending by ordering books from the store. It takes approximately 132 business days for most deliv- eries. Customers may phone, send email, drop in, or place a website order. Jacobson hopes to update the web ordering system soon. The 27-year-old book- seller considers bookstores an important <third place= for people in a community. He said, <They have home, they have their work, and they have their third place 4 cof- feehouse, gym, bookstore.= Bookstores disperse infor- mation and knowledge, public perception of which has been substantially altered by social media, Google, and the digital surveillance economy. <It9s a really tricky time, because everything is politi- cal now,= Jacobson acknowl- edged. He believes <it9s good to read outside of your expe- rience= and that bookstores should <encourage people to read and think critically. < P o l a r i z a t i o n i s a problem because it leads to lack of conversation,= he said. <Democracy is built on con- versations with those whom we disagree with. And when we9re not having those con- versations, the process kind of falters.= Paulina Springs Books plans to host new events including discussions aim- ing to bridge the gap between readers of differing beliefs. The bookstore will use Twitter to maintain a presence in the publishing industry and attract bigger-name authors for in-store events. Jacobson quit his personal social media accounts about a year ago. <No regrets,= he said. <Even moving across the country, away from all my friends, I9m entirely able to keep in touch.= Time management, pri- oritization, and mental health were his primary reasons for quitting. Now he relishes los- ing the urge to <share,= which used to interrupt activities like hiking. <Everything that I do now is for my own enjoyment,= he said with a grin. <Going a year without that desire to take a picture to share on Instagram? That9s great.=