Everyone has an Achilles heel somewhere. I try to keep an open mind and accept valid criticism. It's the only way to learn. The only time I become defensive is if someone is simply being an asshole for the sake of being an asshole. Otherwise I try to learn from everyone around me. Most people despise being corrected in any way. It hurts their ego. That's why most people never learn anything. It's more fun to receive new stimulus rather than examining it and checking its accuracy; the "Santa Claus Effect."
People always believe what they want to believe and now they have the opportunity to follow those who think like them on social media. They group themselves. The moment they find something which they want to believe, they share it immediately without verifying its veracity and hoping their inner-groups will support. Or it's just about mocking things, nothing else.
It's comforting people's each other cognitive dissonance, and make them feel more credible about their choices. Also people like to feel special about being aware of something no one else understands. It makes them feel special and more intellectual then all the "dumb sheep out there." I have no doubt you have seen such rhetoric before. It plays a self-affirming role. And since many aspects of our modern society does a great job of pushing our self-image into the ground, people have a very strong need for some positive self-affirmation.
At a personal level, a disassociation from reality allows denial of accountability. Basically no one wants to deal with the real problems so its easier to get offended and project them onto something else, albeit fiction far enough away for the path of accountability to be obscured, because if real facts was reported it would create a path of responsibility back to the individual. Because the world is broken. Fake news is simply giving the people what they want. When they want something better, outcomes will be better.
Since time began there's always been the "baying crowd" people that have an innate ability to suck up bullshit at an alarming rate. Desperate times for the establishment. Lateral thinking, equivocation goofballs who have become so mentally lazy to accept loose associations and trendy spin. Post-modernism aka duplicitous, sellout thinking, which is all so trendy. This current era has got to be one of the most trendy conformist eras in all of history.
