Help me rephrase this sentence plz

[Donbelid]

Hi everyone.
Would you please help me write a better phrase instead of the underlined one?

"We can easily come to the conclusion that social media cannot be the main source of distrust in other types of media when people do not have any trust in the former itself."

By "in the former itself" I mean social media.

Or... Do you think my original sentence sounds normal?

 

[jutfrank]

The whole sentence needs rewriting, in my opinion. It doesn't make much sense, I'm afraid.

Try to explain what you mean in other words, so we know how to correct it.

 

[Tarheel]

I have never seen the phrase the former itself before, and I hope I never see it again

 

[Glizdka]

Not a teacher

---

"We can easily come to the conclusion that social media cannot be the main source of distrust in other types of media."
⇳
"People do not have any trust in the former [social media] [STRIKE]itself[/STRIKE]."

Is that a loop in reasoning?

 

[Tarheel]

Not a teacher

---

"We can easily come to the conclusion that social media cannot be the main source of distrust in other types of media."
⇳
"People do not have any trust in the former [social media] [STRIKE]itself[/STRIKE]."

Neither of those sentences is something I would ever say or hope to see. In short, huh?

I advise the writer of those sentences to write shorter, simpler sentences.