Social media--positive or negative?

My go to social media sites are Facebook and Pinterest. I use down time to browse these sites just to find out what my friends are interested in and what is trending. I don't usually watch the news or read the newspaper, so I visit news sites, both local and national, frequently to stay current on what is going on in the world.
I admit that I often rely on Facebook to keep me abreast of what's going on because I can scroll my news feed and find plenty of stories and articles that are being shared. I don't read news sites daily, so if it's not being shared or posted, then there is a good possibility I will miss it. I used to be guilty of believing and sharing every interesting or "flavorful" article that I saw. I quickly realized that I needed to be more careful about what I shared; just because it's in print doesn't mean it's reliable. I tend to do a little more background and fact checking on my own these days. I feel like the accountability that is placed on us as consumers to be more critical thinkers is a positive influence that comes from this new media. For me personally, the positive aspect is that I'm more aware because the information is only a click away.
On the other hand, one negative that I see is that there can be a limit to the information that you expose yourself to. What I mean by this is that most of my friends on Facebook are friends because we are similar. We have similar beliefs and interests, so when they comment on articles or share them I am usually in agreement with the information they are posting. The negative aspect of that is that it would be very easy to hide yourself in "like mindedness" and never really seek out, to understand or form conversations with, those who have different ideas.