I honestly think social media platform algorithms like Facebook/Insta/Twitter have actually trained us to do it more, too. Basically they’re optimized for whatever keeps eyeballs on their platforms longest and it turns out that generating outrage is an easy way to do that, so they prioritize showing you stuff that’s gonna get you to engage by pissing you off and/or making you feel self-righteous. And then that 1. makes people think that’s just how people act cos that’s what gets put in front of them and 2. encourages that behavior because it does numbers.
I’ve quit twitter twice (made it stick the second time) because no matter how hard I try, whenever I end up engaging I end up with people sniping at me and eventually I start sniping back. It just encourages me to be my worst self and it sucks.
I honestly think social media platform algorithms like Facebook/Insta/Twitter have actually trained us to do it more, too. Basically they’re optimized for whatever keeps eyeballs on their platforms longest and it turns out that generating outrage is an easy way to do that, so they prioritize showing you stuff that’s gonna get you to engage by pissing you off and/or making you feel self-righteous. And then that 1. makes people think that’s just how people act cos that’s what gets put in front of them and 2. encourages that behavior because it does numbers.
I’ve quit twitter twice (made it stick the second time) because no matter how hard I try, whenever I end up engaging I end up with people sniping at me and eventually I start sniping back. It just encourages me to be my worst self and it sucks.