Part of the problem is that media in general isn't something that humans have adjusted to. We appear evaluate our environment based on what information is available in our immediate surroundings and act accordingly, within our environment. However, media skews those evaluations by providing specific information that isn't necessarily part of our immediate environment. For instance, if we get one viral report in an entire world of situation X happening, our evaluation of the probability of that situation becomes skewed.
Social media just makes it faster and based on collective intellect(or lack thereof) as opposed to other media which has at least the occasional journalistic ethic obeyed.