Regardless of one's political persuasions, no one can deny the pervasive and persuasive power of social media. Even George Orwell, whose work is often cited as prescient in the modern political arena, could hardly have imagined the role of Facebook, Twitter and other social media in shaping public discourse. "In our time," Orwell wrote in his time, "political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible." This tradition thrives on social media, where everyone is invited to contribute their two cents. "All issues are political issues," continued Orwell, "and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia." While Newspeak is nothing new, it has been given an uncontrollable self-propagating power by the amplifying echo chamber of social media. "But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought," Orwell cautioned. "A bad usage can spread by tradition and imitation, even among people who should and do know better." In other words, ideas of dubious provenance can quickly "go viral." Another writer, horror master Stephen King, is horrified by Facebook, the king of social media. "I'm quitting Facebook," wrote King on rival social medium Twitter. "Not comfortable with the flood of false information that's allowed in its political advertising, nor am I confident in its ability to protect its users' privacy." Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) was recently sighted playing at the SPIN San Francisco ping-pong club. According to Business Traveler USA, SPIN San Francisco is the city's third-most booked venue for business functions. Boasting celebrity tech moguls like Zuckerberg and Dropbox CEO Drew Houston, SPIN is becoming a hub of industrial, social and political power. While Washington, D.C. has for centuries been the epicenter of misleading rhetoric, it would appear that Silicon Valley is now generating the most spin.

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