In mainstream media, public consensus is bought by the highest bidder, or the whims of the board of the company.

In social media, general consensus is owned by those that control the best and most bots to direct the conversation.

Unfortunately most people are too lazy/busy to seek out trusted information, and many if not most have no ability to understand if the answer they get should be trusted or not.

> In social media, general consensus is owned by those that control the best and most bots to direct the conversation.

Isn't it owned by the owner of the social media platform? Do you think Zuckerberg, Musk, etc are neutral? There is an enormous amount of evidence otherwise.

If some bots proliferate, it's because the owners allow those bots to do so.