I will never be the same person again

[MangaD]

Great article @MnM! You nailed one of the biggest problems of the modern world. I would have used China instead of North Korea as an example. And also, good thing that you mentioned media outlets and not just social media. Mainstream media have been doing this manipulation for decades, if not centuries, and they've been getting away with it.

I have tried challenging my virtual friends into contacting with opinions that go against the mainstream narrative. Even if I am not an expert in the topics or do not necessarily (fully) agree with the position(s) that I was presenting. The result was that most ignored these attempts or felt that their beliefs were under attack and stopped talking to me or removed me from their friend list entirely. To summarize, there wasn't any effort made into discussing the matters, let alone in a critical thinking / open-minded way.

Now I feel tempted to ignore all of the political, religious and social matters discussed on social media. After all, why waste my time on that and sever my connections when I can just mind myself doing more productive things? And yet, I feel that by doing this I become a social nihilist just like most people have become, without caring about the society that I live in. What is your advice on this?

Edit: Forgot to mention that it would be nice to link to the studies you mention.