We're the ones that killed journalism, believing that it was no longer important to have someone dedicated to finding truth and perspective and instead relying on social media gossip. This was the great ego trip of humanity, that we seemed to think the only barrier to stop anyone from publishing "news" was a technical one, and then once we all had the platforms at our fingertips that what we thought and what we believed was somehow worthy of the eyes of millions. It will take a deliberate shift back to valuing those investigative skills and truth-seeking principals to regain just the potential to have verifiable sources of truth. And we'll have to pay for it.
The glimmer of hope in all of this is that we have the potential to realise that the gargabe we're being fed is just that: garbage. Humanity in the information age is just an infant that needs to grow up. These platforms need to die and I actually look forward to the next few years when AI will swamp them with content and render them pointless. If we're just that bit aware enough of what is going on then all we have to do is walk away and realise that we've been asleep at the wheel for the last 20 years. Facebook, twitter and all of the other shit-piles can just wither away and die, drowning in their own waste. It could be quite glorious to watch.
Of course the alternative is that The Matrix is easier than first imagined, and all the machines have to do is feed us a steady stream of barely likeable garbage text and videos to keep us glued to our devices. Vivid and life-like simulated reality isn't required at all, just do enough to distract us and we willingly give up our autonomy in favour of being "engaged". It makes me sick just thinking about it, but is it really all that far from our current reality?