And because there's no culture of pausing to research and check before clicking 'retweet'/'reblog'/'share' on a context-free post that presses the correct emotional buttons, people spread this kind of disinformation without checking

This is another reason why Twitter etc was so toxic for me. Because I would take that time, which meant I spent hours researching “truthiness” (Stephen Colbert’s perfect neologism), bathing in the often grim details of oppressive policy and human suffering. Then I realized that retweeting &c had become a fandom: that folks were displaying solidarity and common interest with their retweet/quote/reblog. That’s great for fanfic and art and SF and TV — fandom positivity can be so rewarding. But folks were bonding over misery.