[krapp]

I don't know. Trump's popularity was definitely fueled by the social media. QAnon started as a meme on 4chan.

I think it's a mistake to overstate the effect but it's definitely there and it seems different than even Obama's use of social media, which was considered revolutionary at the time.

[amelius]

Of course there is no way to prove it but when you go from a few broadcasting institutions to a situation where everybody is a broadcaster, then we should not be surprised to see some pretty wild effects that the inventors of democracy certainly didn't think of in 500 B.C.