Newspapers everywhere were quick to blame social media for some of 2016’s more surprising political events. However, filter bubbles, echo chambers, and unsubstantiated claims are as old as humanity itself, so Facebook and friends have at most acted as amplifiers. The real mystery is that, given our access to unprecedented technological means to escape those bubbles and chambers, we apparently still prefer convenient truths over a healthy diet of various information sources. Paradoxically, i...
