This is all a consequence of the change of algorithms, started by Google, in 2010. This is when content on the internet became personalized. The more personalized the content, the more time people spend on social media platforms.

This has changed us massively. Everyone is constantly fed content that agrees with and further entrenches their own views.

On top of that, we only see the strawman version of opposing views. We all come to the conclusion that the other side are either evil or complete morons, because on the internet, we’ve never actually heard a well-formulated argument from the opposing side.

Outrage is good business. And the general population continue to be absolute suckers for it. People let their emotions get triggered so easily.

In general, people are not media literate, and never once do they stop to consider the effects that the technology itself may behaving on them. Marshall Mcluhan told us: “The medium is the message”.

People need to stop and think about how the medium of communication they’re using (social media) is changing how they behave and how they think.

For example, on Twitter people are more aggressive, snarky and confident than they are in the real world. This is an example of how the medium of communication changes the way people behave.

Anyway, couldn’t agree more with the article.