It just make it is easier for extremists of all sides to find each other and build echo chambers to strengthen their ideas.
Now this article is a bit hypocritical as every journalist and news media out there is also on social media and use it as a communication and advertisement channel, just like like everyone else. NYT and co love Facebook and Twitter when it helps them bring in paid customers.
It is also spreading the dumb much faster. Used to be everyone would have dumb ideas but they would be different ideas. Now the dumb ideas converge really fast around the latest global outrage.
A single widespread dumb idea is more dangerous to democracy than a million dumber localized ideas.
Now this article is a bit hypocritical as every journalist and news media out there is also on social media and use it as a communication and advertisement channel, just like like everyone else. NYT and co love Facebook and Twitter when it helps them bring in paid customers.