designed for a purpose... each type serves its purpose. I think the uneducated public uses them inappropriately across the board because the frankly don't understand the use cases.
i.e. - N95 are designed to protect you from someone else... they intentionally allow your breath out unfiltered.
surgical masks are designed for an Operating Room setting, without humidity, one time use, etc... we now have idiots out there wearing them for multiple days out in the humid environment, which greatly degrades the impact of them... which is to prevent the wearers germs from entering a surgical cavity and also prevent (to a degree) splatter onto the wearer.
cloth masks - well, there are so many variations of these, i don't even know where to begin. in short, they serve about the same purpose as a surgical mask in that they will catch the large droplets from sneezing, coughing, etc..., but due to the loose fitting nature, are really stopping any of the airborne particles.
I think they are giving most people a false sense of security and in those cases, cause more harm then good because the people won't keep their dirty hands off their faces due to adjusting the stupid mask.