Social Media: Does it help or hinder political discourse?

With the proliferation of social media, many argue that led to a democratization of news media. Was that a benefit, or did it lead to a dumbing down of the discourse, where everyone - even the least informed - has a giant megaphone? How can we be more discriminating viewers of information?

Is access to that giant megaphone fostering ever greater misinformation and furthering the polarization in our society? When we read news online - regardless its source, how do we judge its credibility? What is "fake news"?

Others argue that, because of social media, or other factors, that we have less freedom of speech now than we did before. But, is that so? What means of broadcasting did we have before versus now? Did that media disappear?