Charlie Kirk's mastery of social media was key to him becoming a force in conservative politics.

The extent to which Kirk's killing and its aftermath have played out on those forums shouldn't come as a surprise.

Links to videos of Kirk being shot flooded social media platforms like X, TikTok and Instagram before his death was even announced.

In a microcosm of life today, social media is where Americans have gone to process last week's killing in Utah and is the chief tool his supporters are using to police those they feel aren't offering proper respect.

Investigators are probing the time the man accused of killing Kirk, Tyler Robinson, spent in the “dark corners of the internet” — anti-social media, if you will — leading up to when he allegedly pulled the trigger.

Social media has become the town square for increasingly strident debate and the forum for which conservatives have sought to punish people they feel aren't offering Kirk the proper respect.

Divisive posts and conspiracy theories are pushed forward through algorithms on social media sites, since they drive interest to advertisers.