> And somehow managed to overcome the constant "fact checking" by major cable networks, the Post, NYT and generally a large majority of the established media.

> And somehow managed to overcome the constant "fact checking" by major cable networks, the Post, NYT and generally a large majority of the established media. A person's consumption of media will dictate their voting patterns. Someone who reads the Post and NYT will probably vote differently than someone consuming primarily Conservative news and memes on Facebook. > American democracy has endured through secession, yellow journalism and Joseph McCarthy. It will survive Facebook and sentiment analysis bots. Many Americans read news exclusively on Facebook. If peoples' political opinions are influenced by their friends', then content on Facebook benefits from a halo of social proof. Regardless, in a system where media consumption is dictated by what is shared, then content which evokes strong emotional reaction will have a strong sharing advantage. Journalism and McCarthyism existed in an age before ML. If smart algorithms could optimize share rates, then a professional team could gain a lot of influence with highly curated media. Complete thoughts here: [https://news.ycombinator.com/edit?id=13649547 https://news.ycombinator.com/edit?id=13649547]