We've discussed this a fair bit...

The goal was to move all discourse to a environment Libs could 100% control. Once we were fenced in they would start the ratcheting. This kind of control would have been impossible in meatspace.

In the UK, for example, people are being jailed for comments critical to Islam. People have also been charged for "liking" such a comment. This would have been difficult without the documentation socials provide the police state. They've also got algos which have mapped out entire networks of "bad thinkers" and over represent the speech of "good allies."

The people (especially young) getting too wrapped into socials are being harmed in many ways. Lots of info online about that.

Ironically our distrust of corporate media has given the socials more sway; people are more interested in what others think than #FakeNews "journalists."

I'm not sure what the future is but for now socials are the marketplace of ideas. And if they didn't matter you wouldn't see BigTech compromising themselves to censor and control.