Our perception is that public discussion is consumed with bitterness, anger and recrimination; people can’t seem to disagree agreeably anymore, so instead of listening to the pros and cons of an issue, there are laughing emojis or sarcastic put downs of the genuine opinions of others.

In a week which saw the dreadful murder of English MP, David Amess, threats emerging to our own MLAs and reports of up to ten journalists being targeted with sinister messages, the spotlight has been on the social media companies.

As ever, they’re the big bad wolf.

In the United States, Frances Haugen worked at Facebook but copied thousands of internal documents before leaving, and as a whistleblower she claims that Facebook products harm children, stoke division and weaken democracy. She says, for example, in a Facebook survey 32 per cent of teenage girls who felt bad about their body said Instagram made them feel worse.

But Facebook hid this from us.

Haugen quotes other data which led her to accuse Facebook of a “betrayal of democracy” and being “dangerous".

Facebook, of course, has hit back; but it all seems a far cry from the original idea that Mark Zuckerberg and his classmates had (less than 20 years ago) of connecting people in a positive social network to share news and entertainment.

Indeed, if you’re one of the two billion users worldwide per month, the plethora of family pictures, Bible verses, motivational texts, music videos and the rest can make for a better world.

But, as ever, once the darker elements of mankind see an opportunity for the seedier side of life, they take it.

It hasn’t been a good week for Twitter either. In a House of Lords debate, Baroness Fox, the former MEP Claire Fox warned their Lordships that public figures are “too often mistaking Twitter for public opinion".

Indeed, how often has it been said that Twitter is a sewer sometimes, used by many to spew bile whether for the sake of it or to put down opponents. I wonder, though, if it is too easy to blame Twitter.

Is it a sewer in itself, or is it rather a wake-up call in pulling back the curtain on the real sewer, society itself?

We should also remember that Twitter in particular, and to an extent Facebook, are used largely by older people and many of our younger generation prefer TikTok or Instagram and don’t want to engage with issues which many of consider to be of important public interest.

Who can blame them, but it is worrying that the citizens of tomorrow are so turned off by issues.

These matters were once the almost-exclusive domain of the mainstream media, newspapers and broadcasters primarily.

The Lords debate which Claire Fox contributed to was discussing a Westminster report entitled 'Breaking News: the future of UK journalism' and there is concern about how our media is adapting to the rapidly changing world of communication.

There’s no doubt that social media, in particular Twitter, is often weaponised by proponents of extreme views using misinformation to legitimise their, often dangerous, agenda.

This was evident this week, with an onslaught on our former colleague Rodney Edwards who has been highlighting for some weeks in the Sunday Independent the dark work of extreme “anti-vaxxers” in parts of Ireland.

On Sunday past, in the paper’s first Northern Ireland edition, he broke the story that the PSNI was investigating intimidating behaviour by anti-vaxxers towards politicians with sinister references to those who support vaccination causing “genocide” and “supporting crimes against humanity". The SDLP Minister, Nicola Mallon had a “letter of liability” delivered to her office accusing her of harming children by endorsing the coronavirus vaccine.

In the Assembly this week, a number of members recounted the personal abuse they have received, especially distasteful in the week of the murder of an MP.

If you think this is the stuff of some extreme crazy fundamentalist rednecks in parts of the United States, remember these far right people walk among us here in Ireland.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, a debate about how people with genuine concerns or reservation about the vaccine has been lost. Such is the nature of public discourse.

For his courageous journalism in bringing such extremism into the public arena, Rodney has suffered much abuse on social media.

“Have you eyes in the back of your head, because you’re gonna need them” said one anonymous user. It was one of many and Rodney himself tweeted on Monday: “Hundreds of nasty messages today from those who are anti-vaxx, anti-lockdown, anti-media. Many of them menacing. I have always said that Government decisions should be challenged by journalists. But so too should those spreading dangerous mistruths and posting threats like this.”

Quite rightly, police forces on both sides of the Border are now investigating, and the Chief Constable of the PSNI has taken a personal interest.

So he should; and indeed so should we all. We should also remember that social media is only a tool, it is being used by people.

I often find it frustrating that many of the people who engage in confirmation bias and accept something unchecked and unregulated on social media sometimes are the first to criticise the mainstream media.

There is an onus on social media companies to prevent this shocking, dangerous and unacceptable use of their communication vehicle in this way, and they are not doing enough.

There is an important role for social media in disseminating news and information, fostering debate and connecting people; but the big companies need to get their act together instead of, as Frances Haugen says, putting their own interests, including making more money ahead of the interests of what is good for society.

At a time when our media is under fire, there is also an onus on traditional journalism to be responsible and provide a public service for a range of opinions. There is a fine line between robust debate and stoking division and there are some journalists who cross that line.

I feel very privileged to be able to write a column expressing my views on issues, and I feel particularly strongly that we should hold those in authority to account and give a voice to people who don’t have one elsewhere, I would emphasise that it is 'how I see it'; so I try to articulate my opinions to tease out the issues and must respect the people that disagree with me, however strongly.

I’m 'old school' and remember when newspapers had a very distinct demarcation between news and opinion.

But now those lines are blurred, and sometimes there are journalists who seem to think it is their function to promote an agenda, often using social media ironically, to do so. And the cult of the personality attention-seeking journalist, using social media to promote themselves is contrary to the purpose of their function

Remember they’re very much a minority, so the media detractors shouldn’t tar all journalists with the one negative brush.

Pluralism of media is vital, space and respect for all opinion is needed and public discourse needs to be cleaned up. The noise from the dangerous extremists must never become the norm.