What's different is that the means are now present to customise the media that you see to your exact preferences, for one; That's a step change away from (say)

What's different is that the means are now present to customise the media that you see to your exact preferences, for one; That's a step change away from (say) a newspaper which is going to have some content which doesn't align perfectly with your existing views. There's a world of other things happening (in terms of apps also being engineered to be addictive in terms of their behaviour) as well - this isn't simply that people are being manipulated, it's that the means are now present to customise the manipulation and make it entirely personal for every user.