By becoming trusted news sources, Facebook and Twitter are creating a lot of value for shareholders that the market has not yet recognized. But, the reason why the Russians thought pushing news stories on Facebook and Twitter could influence the election is simply that so many American's rely on Facebook and Twitter for their news. Why do so many people rely on Facebook and Twitter instead of the traditional news media? In spite of Facebook's fake news and President Trump's tweets more American's trust Facebook and Twitter than the traditional news media. This is a fact that Wall Street has not paid much attention to so stock prices of Facebook, Twitter, and the traditional news competitors do not already fully reflect this insight.

Source: Forbes February 20, 2018 20:15 UTC