So far, I have not ever missed out. So you think. And I would agree that Facebook, Twitter, et. al. have failed miserably in serving their purported customers

So far, I have not ever missed out. So you think. And I would agree that Facebook, Twitter, et. al. have failed miserably in serving their purported customers (their real customers are probably more than happy, but I won't get into that). But I think the whole reason those things were appealing in the first place was that traditional media had failed even worse. At least with social media you have more control. Control over who you associate with and what you pay attention to. What can you do with TV or a newspaper? Turn them off or throw them away; at best you can scan through them while trying to avoid content (including ads) not relevant to you. There are other alternatives though; take HN for example. It's not unfiltered, but it definitely gives you more (and most likely more relevant to your interests) stories. Aggregators such as HN, ./, et. al have been far superior to anything I've ever experienced from TV or newsprint. Much more relevant, much more in depth, much more accurate (not a high bar to beat), and most importantly, filtered to my interests (who gives two shts about the Hiltons or the Kardashians?). They're not perfect, but they are definitely a step in the right direction. I've discovered so many things via HN, ./ and other aggregators that I never* would have discovered via traditional media (or probably FB or Twitter for that matter).