The new public square is fact-free social media – and it couldn’t come at a worse time for Australia

‘Social media disinformation is incredibly effective at short-circuiting the usual connection between reality and fiction, even with factchecking in place,’ writes Ed Coper Photograph: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images

I outsmarted and shamed a nice elderly man named Leo last night, who was only trying to help me. Leo’s a career coach with a trimmed white beard and button-down shirt, who assists young people with writing their resumés and finding the right careers.

Despite all his best efforts, by the end of our conversation I had him apologising to me and in turn accepting my career advice for him – retirement.