I actually wonder how many really seek the truth. It has been my observation for a few years that even many on ‘our side’ seek out media that confirm their preconceived biases.
Of course the left is worse, the truth an anathema to them.
You’re absolutely right. The problem is falling into an echo chamber that simply reinforces whatever claim is made, particularly if it fits a preferred narrative. There’s a mountain of confirmation bias in an echo chamber and it becomes self-reinforcing. Misinformation enters and as long as it fits a predetermined belief structure, it gets repeated until the echo chamber itself becomes the individual participants’ authoritative source. It becomes something that “everybody knows”.
Well no, not everybody. Just the people in that one group. This happens with any insular group (left, right, or otherwise). It happens a lot on fringe groups on Facebook. I think the mommy groups are the absolute worst. My wife has showed me posts from some of those and those groups often have absolute lunatics in them. They’re convinced everyone on Earth is trying to murder and/or molest their kids and that if it was invented in the last 1,000 years, it’s automatically terrible for kids.