Yesterday, Fred identified a positive result of social media in today's crazy world. It's ability to shine a spotlight on what is happening right in the middle of an invasion and the rise of an unlikely leader.

But there's so much more of what's happening inside of social media, particularly Facebook.

THE ATLANTIC has been able (with a grant) to analyze a large data set to "study public behavior on the 500 U.S. Facebook pages that get the most engagement from users." It is, needless to say, startling and not surprising all at the same time.

They identified a segment of users "that produce more likes, shares, reactions, comments, and posts than 99 percent of Facebook users in America." They call them Superusers.

Because "Facebook’s algorithm rewards engagement, these superusers have enormous influence over which posts are seen first in other users’ feeds, and which are never seen at all. Even more shocking is just how nasty most of these hyper-influential users are. The most abusive people on Facebook, it turns out, are given the most power to shape what Facebook is."

And they are spewing a "toxic mix of misinformation and hate." The article ends with this illuminating fact: "Facebook may publicly condemn users who post hate, spread misinformation, and hunger for violence. In private, though, hundreds of thousands of repeat offenders still rank among the most important people on Facebook."

Here's the link to the article, if you're interested in reading it.