Social Media and Polarization
- The increased division between people based on political affiliation has been recognized by many and has frequently been attributed to technological developments
- Outlets like Facebook and Twitter are blamed for increased hostility, disinformation, and hateful attitudes spreading across the political discourse
- Politicians and those loyal to their message emphasize that serious disagreement with their policies stems from "disinformation," which is amplified by algorithms that match users with information that they will be more likely to engage with
- False statements tend to become popular because they evoke stronger emotions compared to the truth
- Content creators are incentivized to postulate incorrect statements to market themselves
- Narrowly ascribing the drive toward increased disagreement, dislike, and other aspects of polarization to social media platforms is difficult
- Data that are sometimes claimed to support the notion that social media drives political polarization more accurately show that politics evoke polarization
- An increase in political content can increase indicators of polarization like perceived difference and personal emotions
Fan groups in European soccer are notorious for fuss and fights
- Explicit hate due to historical rivalry, local loyalty, and even political affiliations is widespread.
- When a group of very influential European soccer clubs made an effort to Americanize European soccer and create an National Hockey League-style covenant (the "European Soccer League") across the continent without risk of relegation, fans from all across Europe came together despite all differences and commonplace mutual hate.
It's hard to imagine this kind of public collaboration in a conventional political setting
- lockdowns have instead distinguished themselves by accelerating polarization
- Perhaps it might be time to consider the structure of politics instead of blaming social media
- The monopoly of violence and the administrative state's lust to utilize it for a growing body of projects turns everything into everybody's business
- Any opinion you hold may be related to my freedom or welfare
If I reckon that one party disregards my welfare or values at one time, that affects my general assessment of that party.
- If it happens a thousand times, the mere indication of support for that party will be annoying.
- Political discourse becomes an intricate web of cues about where others are positioning themselves
Polarization is contingent on political information
- Social media is just another channel for politically relevant information, which makes people angry wherever it shows up
- If government officials and those loyal to them are concerned about polarization, they should contemplate how their own work is driving unrest on social media
https://mises.org/wire/dont-blame-social-media-blame-politicization-nearly-everything
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