Absolutely. I totally agree that social media is a manipulative lens based on those engagement algorithms. I definitely see that as having amplified these issues (and in many cases, misrepresented and confused, as you said, which also drives despair and conflict).

I also didn’t mean to sound extremely dour in the first place, there are, of course, some aspects of society and progress worth celebrating, and I’m not particularly unhappy, so much as worried for others, myself.

The reality and perception of existential threats like climate change, violence, and exploitation is no doubt amplified by the lens of social media, but I would argue that those pressures would still be felt, regardless of that amplification, leading me to see them as the root causes.

I also agree that social media in general is another root cause, but argue that just throwing that out there as “the” root cause, as Bellflower does in his quote, is reductive and looks out of touch.