Social Media Is Altering Your Reality

Social media no longer shows you the world. It shows you the version of it that suits the people who own the platform.

In Weekly Dygression #10, I look at what social media has become: fact-checkers removed, AI-generated profiles let loose, critics suspended, and feeds that quietly decide which reality you get to see. From Meta and X to TikTok and Reddit, the pattern is the same. A handful of owners control the conversation, and the rest of us live inside it.

Every claim in this video is sourced. The full list is below.

References

• 1) bbc.com/news/articles/cz6p1g54q85o
• 2) usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2025/01/19/is-tiktok-…
• 3) newsweek.com/elon-musk-announces-changes-too-much-…
• 4) bbc.com/news/articles/cly820v99ppo
• 5) middleeasteye.net/news/musk-x-turkey-censorship-re…
• 6) engadget.com/big-tech/whistleblower-complaint-expa…
• 7) engadget.com/social-media/reddit-is-removing-links…
• 8)barrons.com/articles/reddit-stock-price-today-meta…
• 9) theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/07/meta-facebo…
• 10) readsludge.com/2024/04/23/meta-shatters-lobbying-r…
• 11) forbes.com/sites/chriswestfall/2025/01/02/meta-ope…
• 12) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010s_global_surveillance_di…
• 13) billo.app/blog/tiktok-vs-instagram/
• 14) thestreet.com/employment/metas-recent-layoffs-take…
• 15) nypost.com/2025/02/11/business/meta-lays-off-4k-wo…
• 16) tennessean.com/story/news/2025/03/19/free-speech-u…
• forbes.com/sites/esatdedezade/2025/01/22/tiktok-us…
• 17) time.com/7266334/us-human-rights-watchlist-civil-l…
• 18) theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/04/elon-musk-x…
• 19) independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/elon-musk-ja…
• 20) forbes.com/sites/markjoyella/2024/01/09/elon-musk-…
• 21) theregister.com/2024/11/20/x_marks_the_spot_for/
• 22) theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/trump-admini…