It is unfortunate that platforms like Facebook have become the beacons of pessimism. I am talking in the context of the usage of social media tools to harm society, rather than help it.

For me, FB, TW, etc have become unreliable sources of news.

Here, FB is trying to limit ads from pages that share false news, but who will decide that??

1. FB - Leads to a dangerous slippery slope of putting too much power into a single,private, profit-seeking entity.

2. Users - It alienates sections of society.

3. Other sources - Inherently unreliable.

Seemingly, FB getting into the media distribution business itself is troublesome for a society, especially when you have a platform whose algorithms prioritize profit, consequently leading to construction of powerful echo chambers.

The trouble with these echo chambers is that they nullify efforts of the society to promote meaningful debate and discussion.

Even before the era of FB, the world was struggling with misinformation, lies, subversion of facts, etc. Now we have reached a point where Presidents can lie, often within a span of a few hours, and it's essentially forgotten and things move on. These echo chambers are the primary culprit for this IMV. When efforts to educate constituents is taken head on with echo chambers, the echo chambers inevitably win.

Reminds me of the novel where the speaker in a press conference is denouncing country A, and is handed over a note from his aide, and the speaker immediately switched the narrative denouncing country B, all the while the press simply accepts what is told.