Good faith is dead.
There was a time when you could post online and expect to be misunderstood - but at least misunderstood honestly. Someone might disagree. They might argue. But they’d try.
That time is gone.
Today, you’re not joining a conversation so much as entering a courtroom. You’re both defendant and surprise witness. The replies come loaded - and looking for motive.
The presumption of good faith has been entirely replaced by the assumption of bad faith. Say something reasonable? You’re hiding something. Say something principled? You’re posturing. Say something provocative? You’re attention-seeking.
What’s collapsed isn’t just civility. It’s the entire social contract that once made online discourse worth participating in. Context is dead. Profiles are ignored. Nuance is deprecated. And in its place: factionalism. Instant tribal sorting. The shibboleth economy.
And worst of all - it’s not an accident. It’s engineered. Rage scales. Context doesn’t. And the platforms know it.
This video explores how online conversation decayed into hostile performance - and how we might still salvage a few quiet corners of understanding.
00:00 The Death of Online Good Faith
00:47 The Collapse of Context
01:52 The Rise of Factionalism
02:32 Engineered Outrage
03:29 The Modern Shibboleth Economy
04:45 The Cost of Understanding
05:22 Rebuilding Good Faith
