Borrowing from The Matrix:

Spoon boy: Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead... only try to realize the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Spoon boy: There is no spoon.
Neo: There is no spoon?
Spoon boy: Then you'll see, that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.

The same with social media and fake news. Most of what is presented to us is an illusion. We change ourselves trying to fit that alternate reality presented to us.

But you are right in that we should stay in the moment and absorb our environment. Most of what we need to be happy is right before us if we are present enough to appreciate it.