Social media like Facebook might be worse to some degree, though, because media outlets don’t have hooks that are as strong and universal as those of social med

Social media like Facebook might be worse to some degree, though, because media outlets don’t have hooks that are as strong and universal as those of social media — there are those with a disposition towards watching shows like Hannity, but the appeal is somewhat constrained, with those who hadn’t been watching unlikely to start watching without outside influence. By comparison, people from all walks of like come to social media for a wide variety of reasons, meaning the top of the funnel is much larger. Social media also lends an air of legitimacy to posted headlines with the way it attaches familiar, trusted names to them (posters and commenters), which over time trains users to disregard legitimacy of sources. It can also nudge users away from intellectual engagement and toward emotional engagement, with how ragebait headlines tend to be the ones that get posted most often. Of course, that’s not to downplay the dangers of “news entertainment” on traditional media, but I think social media is its own special brand of insidious.