>> building a better bay area. is abc seven news. hi there. kristin z. you're watching getting answers on abc every day, we talk with experts about issues important to the bay area and we get answers for you in real time. is social media getting less social? the lead consumer technology writer for the new york times will join us to explain why big platforms that promotes and less scrolling like tiktok, twitter and facebook may be over. what is the replacement? and while that foster a sense of community? travel lirn.en nort first-cssrain is capturing the but fit, tex

cheerleaders shot in parking lot after they opened the door to someone else's car by accident, just the latest case of gun violence in america in a week that resulted from misunderstanding. we also saw a teenager in missouri shot for knocking on the wrong door while picking up his siblings, and a young woman shot to death in new york after pulling into the wrong driveway. joining us live now to discuss these horrific cases and solutions is liz dunning with a nonprofit "brady united against gun violence." thank you for joining us today. hopefully that they will come when we don't need to have these conversations. but these cases all started with innocent mistakes that any of us could make anytime anywhere. how is it that they ended up in gunfire and severe injury or

even death? >> the reason they ended up in gunfire is because of the proliferation of guns in this country. we know that americans kill each other with guns 25 times the rate of other high income countries. we know the presence of a firearm can escalate a misunderstanding, a moment of confusion, a mistake and make it fatal. it is the presence of the gun that is the difference between an honest moment between two strangers and the end of someone's life. kristen: you speak from personal experience with gun violence and mistaken tragedy. can you tell us about that? >> i do. i'm a survivor of gun violence. my mom was shot and killed opening the door of our home. it was not a mistake, this was someone who targeted her in the days preceding her death, we believe. but it was somebody who actually have not had access to a firearm, who over time revealed that his mental capacity and

illness was such that he killed two more people before he was finally brought to justice 12 years later. i will say, as i think about those that we've lost this week and that have had injuries that they will carry for the rest of their lives, there's also a level of trauma and vulnerability that you carry even after the wounds are healed, if you are lucky enough to be injured and not killed. kristen: i'm so sorry for your loss, your mom and what happened and the trauma. i want to bring this back to the cases this week -- the new york and missouri shootings have people talking about a concept, stand your ground, and those laws. explain to us what that means and how that played into this. >> stand your ground laws are those that allow for folks to use the weapons that they have to defend themselves in moments

like that. they are often used to defend what ultimately would be otherwise called homicide, or certainly aggravated injury and battery. what we know is that the existence of stand your ground also associated with increases in gun violence of all sorts. what we know is when a gun is in the mix, regardless of whose hands it is in, someone is much more likely to be shot and killed. and the defense -- the defensive role, e at lea opaper, ten almost never to bear itself out. kristen: right. you mentioned some of the reasons critics say the laws should not exist. although they do in a a few dozen states. in terms of the proponents who say homeowners do need this to be able to defend themselves, what would you tell them? >> what i tell them is that what we have seen over the last 2-3

years with the increase ingun sales is as more people buy guns, a higher percentage of homes have guns, we have seen an increase in gun violence. it happens in lockstep. that is not going to change without increased gun safety laws and regulations. what we know unfortunately is that many parts of the u.s. are rolling back gun safety laws intended to keep us safe. but we also have moments for hope. we know the republican governor of tennessee signed an executive order to expand background checks today and that is great because it is reflective of the will of the people -- 97% of americans want to see background checks expended. 70% of americans want an assault weapons ban. we know the laws around gun safety are ones that save lives. having a gun in your home that is likely 300% likely that there a completed suicide in your home. what we need to remember is that guns are risky. they need to be stored safely,

which means that they are unloaded and locked and separate from ammunition. when a loaded gun is in the mix, we know that things escalate and things can really take a turn. kristen: this really was eye-opening even before the series of shootings. the kaiser family foundation study came up showing one in five american adults have had a family member killed by gunfire. is that right? >> i saw that, too, and its devastating. it was a devastating number to receive. because i know what it's like to feel that pain. what i also believe deeply is that you do not have to be a survivor is that you do not have to be a survivor. -- you do not have to be a survivor, you do not have to have this happen to you to be affected be a good gun violence is the number one gun violence death records. we know that americans want a safer future. wherever you sit on the political spectrum, when you

hear the senate say gun violence is a number one death cause for kids, that hits you. we have work to do in terms of our behavior around gun safety and responsibility, our are -- our advocacy and the conversations we have to have with each other about the world that we want in the world and the world we want to leave our kids. kristen: is gun violence lower in states such as california, with stricter rules, whether it's background checks or longer waiting periods? >> meaningfully so. the gun death rate in california, a state that has all of those laws that we are seeking at the federal level, it is 40% lower per capita than in states with loose laws. we know that gun laws work. there's so much research to suggest it. we know that california is not an island. to protect californians, we need to ensure that there are federal

laws and regulations that can take care of every single american. kristen: what is difficult of course is the division of your will in congress right now making meaningful federal legislation very difficult. given that, what is your approach? >> so, for sure, we are pursuing and will continue to pursue advocacy that suggests congress should be reflective of the world and the opinions of the american people. especially when it comes to their safety and the life and world they want for their kids. i also deeply believe we don't have to wait for an act of congress to make change. the thing i was talking about earlier around safe storage -- that is a program we call end family fire. having conversations around storing guns safely in your home can have an impact on safety and also we can start to normalize conversations around gun responsibility

and change the culture of guns in our home and in the process change lives. kristen: thank you so much for coming on the show. next, a social media -- is social media becoming antisocial? we will talk to the new york times tech writer to learn more about why the platforms are changing and what we can expect next. (bell dinging) how's john? oh, much better. that was quite a scare. got us thinking about a lot of things. like life insurance. if something happened to either one of us, we'd really be in trouble. but where can we get coverage with john's health problems on a fixed income? go with a sure thing. colonial penn. friends have been telling friends about colonial penn guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance for more than 50 years, and with good reason. if you're between the ages of 50 and 85, it's a sure thing. your acceptance is guaranteed because full benefits are not paid in the first two years. you don't need a physical exam

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same time next week? sure thing. kristen: does social media feel less social these days to you? all you got our posts from brands and influencers, not your friends' latest vacation or' photos. something is happening to the biggest platform and it may be enough to drive some users to alternative platforms seeking

greener pastures. joining us live now is the new york times tech writer, who has a new article out exploring the corporati of social media. thank you for coming on the show. a quote in your new article says platforms as we near them are over. what does that mean -- as we knew them are over. what does that mean? >> the public facing networks we are used to, where you post something and anybody in the public can see it and it is this year's network, it is like the equivalent of a conference room with 3 billion people and the people who posted the most and got the most ratios and likes were the ones that were only truly noticed. this is the concept of the big social network, the platform if you will, and people are saying it is over because people don't really want this anymore. people don't seem very into this

idea, we don't really need another one. the whole thing is passe and it is creating an opening for the rise of smaller networks that cater to more niche interests. kristen: before i get off this because it's been driving me batty personally is my twitter feed is a lot of what you're talking about but a lot of the people that i follow and like, i don't ever see their tweets anymore in my timeline. it seems to be what you are talking about, the ones that seem to be getting a lot of attention, not always in a good way. >> this has definitely been a trend happening for a while. besides twitter, for a while on instagram, maybe open instagram, you see a pile of ads, it is hard for you to even see your own friends at this point. same thing with facebook. i can't even see my own wife on instagram anymore. i see a bunch of motorcycle ads. so if you fast-forward to today, twitter just introduced the blue checkmark system to pay eight dollars to $1000 a month

if you are a brand to make your posts show up in the public feed. in the past, you could discover a post from somebody random just because the ♪ ♪ -- just because something they said was interesting were viral, starting tomorrow it is going to be, they are taking away the blue legacy checkmarks and those who don't pay don't get to show up in the public feed anymore. it's becoming like this paid membership club, and that doesn't feel very social, it is like an elite club for the people who are willing to pay and can afford to pay. kristen: right. i imagine this was an intentional decision. they wanted to go this way to make money, is that right? but it's changing the way we interact now. >> i think the reason so many of these sites -- what happens to them is when they grow so big, you know they have to generate a lot of money to return to wall street, they have to find ways to make that money, and they are all kind of doing the same thing, they are all either

running ads, or in twitter's case, they are going to start charging a subscription to be a member of their elite club. back in the day, it started out as anybody can talk -- and talk about what they eat for breakfast and people might see that commentary, and they were just tools for us to socialize and connect with one another. but as it grew bigger and bigger, as the investors demanded more returns, these companies had to make adjustments to how their platforms performed. they had to start stuffing it with ads and charging different fees. that is why it becomes less and less social over time. kristen: i'm not the only one. many people are saying it is less fun these days. where people flocking to? -- where are people flocking to? where is the focus in your article? >> i was talking to a bunch of academics who study this space and people who use social networks. my first question was,

where people going? was going to be the next facebook -- what is going to be the next facebook or twitter? when myspace was in decline, that is when facebook rose. it is natural to think that there's going to be a successor. but it seems that there is not going to be a next facebook. there's not going to be a next twitter. everybody is flocking to these smaller sites and realizing smaller sites are more conducive to community anyway. not these big gigantic conference rooms of 3 billion people arguing about something. as a result, you are seeing people flock to these smaller sites -- for example, if you are talking about art and movies, you can join communities related to that, similar to reddit. if you want to talk about video games, you can go on discord and talk to fellow gamers about gamer playing and play together. if you want to rant about the pot hole in your neighborhood, you've got next-door to talk to

your neighbors. people are slicing and dicing up their time and identities and using these different pockets of networks to spend their time instead of these giant networks where you used to have a tab this whole time with facebook. but people are increasingly just breaking up their time and opening up different apps and using different websites and so forth. kristen: i see. where does this leave influencers? >> i think that is going to be a major question. they are thinking about was going to happen especially on tiktok, a lot of these influencers have built brands and businesses using tiktok and they face a potential ban, which is another kind of problem. influencers are always going to be around. the big networks are going to be around. but they are just not going to be the way that you and i -- average people socialize using the internet. we will probably be following these big influencers on tiktok,

but not necessarily talking to them. not necessarily talking to each other. i just think we have to rethink, what is social media? increasingly i think apps like tiktok and twitter, etc. is averaging from the original definition of what a social network is. kristen: is there any way for the biggies to break themselves up so they feel a little smaller? >> we are trying -- they are trying -- >> they i think you will see more and more of these little guys offering different assets of -- facets of life that people can jump into and that is going to be increasingly how we choo interact with people. that is how we are. each of us is part of a bunch of different communities in real life. it makes sense we are opening up a bunch of different apps now to do the same thing online. kristen: makes sense.

thank you so much. >> thanks for having me. kristen: next -- all aboard. there will soon be in your way to travel from san francisco to los angeles. supporters say it could lead to

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kristen: even as the california high-speed rail seems stuck in low gear, a new train passenger between los angeles and san francisco is being proposed. dream star lines is a southern california startup lining up all the pieces right now hoping to offer a nightly first-class service sooner rather than later. and it's got a lot of people talking. joining us live is jake, the ceo of dream star lines, to give us a closer look at this project. what is the big idea? >> that afternoon, thanks for having me -- good afternoon, thanks for having me. dream star wants to contribute to the renewal of rail service

in california. 40 californians make the trip from los angeles to san francisco every year. and overnight train will give them an alternative to driving the 6 hour drive or getting on a plane early in the morning and facing potential delays and other challenges. kristen: this is an overnight train. so you get on at night and you arrive in the morning? how many hours does it take? describe what happens through those hours. the experience. >> it's really a luxury experience. we are looking at a hotel on the train basically where you have a roomette or larger state room where you can have a private bathroom, get some rest and some sleep. there's a club car where you can have a nice meal or socialize before you turn in for the night. so it's really more of a hotel experience than a transit experience. kristen: is it six hours? >> it is about eight hours. it is longer than you would spit on the -- you would spend on the

road driving and longer than you would spend flying but the nice thing is that you can do other things while you are in transit. you can sleep or have a nice meal, or you can work and prepare for whatever is waiting for you at your destination. kristen: how much would this cost, by the way? >> there are three fair levels -- fare levels. for a roomette, $300 one way. we are also looking at offering double up against -- double occupancy for $600 one way. then $1000 for a private room in your own private bathroom. kristen: i see. ok. you have the basic hotel room up to the luxury hotel room, plus maybe the cost of a flight. where did you come up with this idea? how did i hit you,

we need this train, old-style luxury, is there a market? >> 40 million californians make that trip every year, many for business or leisure. but there really isn't a pleasant way to get from los angeles to san francisco. so we are looking for something that allows people to arrive well rested so that business people can go to bed and wake up there. kristen: it seems so unfamiliar to us because that is not how we have been doing it in california, but did you model it after someplace where this is quite a normal thing? >> yes, in japan and europe, rail is much more developed and affordable. much more accessible. we are hoping to contribute to those options in california. high-speed rail is very exciting . we are hoping that succeeds. it is on a different timeline and serves different terminals. we hope this is just part of california's brought a renewal of rail and other travel option s. kristen: the california

high-speed rail timeline has been an extended -- has been extended. what are you hoping for this timeline? how quickly will you move on this? >> we have a lot of work to do, too, but we are looking at getting access to the tracks and access to the stations. we are in talks with caltrain and union pacific and metrolink on those tracks. we are responsible for those stations. if we can get a critical path to conditional approval to use those facilities, then we would be in a position to start serving californians within a year. kristen: got it. there are many different agencies that control the different parts of the track he would need to get agreements with. that of course you have to procure or design -- how would that work, the train cars themselves and the engine and all that? >> we would procure rolling stock customize for this use. those are available. those would be refurbished and available to us.

it would be really part of the one your timeline. we've spoken to those manufacturers. they can deliver reasonably quickly once we have access to the tracks. kristen: have you always been a trained guy -- a train guy? >> myself? i took the train to law school when i was in southern california. i had family in the netherlands. we loved the train. woul -- we would like to see more of it in california and make it easier to travel. make it easier to appreciate the great state. kristen: if people want to learn more about what you are conceiving, where can they go for more info? >> please go to our website, dreamstarlines.com. kristen: before i let you go, real quickly, what kind of reception, responses are you getting from people after you announced this? >> very positive. many people are looking for alternatives and more options here.

california's changed over the past few decades. we have a lot of people, a lot of demand. we think a niche program like this, if we can bring together the public agencies, would be a great partnership. kristen: i've got to be honest, nobody loves that middle seat, so there's definitely a reason to look at this. thank you so much. appreciate you coming on. we will take a short break and be right back.

kristen: thank you so much for joining us today for "getting answers." we will be here every weekday at 3:00 p.m. answering questions with experts from around the bay area. "world news tonight" with david muir is next.

have a great day. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪ ♪ >> david: tonight, several breaking stories, a chilling series of shootings across several states and u.s. after mistakes, this time two cheerleaders shot after getting to the wrong car at a grocery store. breaking news from the supreme court on the abortion pill and what this means. severe storms, the tornado watch up across several states as we come on tonight. first tonight, the chilling series of shootings from new york to missouri and now texas. tonight, two cheerleaders outside austin shot after one got into the wrong car in a grocery store parking lot. one of them in the icu tonight. upstate new york, the homeowner in court after police say he shot and killed a young woman after the car she was in