I think it’s worth pointing out that there’s a pretty clear line from 10 years worth of “oh no, my parents are on Facebook” to the events of last week. I didn’t see a whole lot of 18 year olds storming the Capitol.

There are multiple generations of Americans with almost zero online media literacy. Their kids showed them how to turn on the computer or their smart phone and then walked away. It’s like parents letting television sets raise their children but inverted.

Your parents are toddlers in the digital world. They didn’t grow up with it, so they’re impressionable and they have no idea what sources to trust. If it’s in the Facebook feed, it must be true because a friend shared it (and they trust their friends).

One bad idea infiltrates the network and they believe the lie. Repeat for a decade.