Tobias Rose-Stockwell explains how social media creates an outrage machine by fueling negative emotions and disrupting society. Negative news gets more attention and is widely shared, making the world seem worse than it is. Algorithms and AI keep us engaged and outraged. Spending more time on social media leads to political extremism. The episode discusses steps to guard against the outrage machine's control over our emotions and distortion of reality.
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Quick takeaways
Social media inadvertently created an 'outrage machine' that fuels negative emotions and disrupts society.
Negative news is more widely shared and discussed due to generating attention and money, making the world seem worse than it is.
The more information shared online, the more powerful algorithms and AI become in keeping us engaged and outraged.
Increased time spent on social media leads to political extremism, manipulated by elements on every part of the political spectrum.
Deep dives
The Impact of Algorithmic Feeds on Social Media
Algorithmic feeds on social media have changed our relationship with information online. They prioritize engaging content, which often leads to the spread of false or controversial information. This has resulted in the viral spread of sensationalized and extreme content that captures attention but may lack factual accuracy.
The Effect of Social Metrics in Shaping News Content
The introduction of social metrics, such as likes and shares, has transformed the news landscape. News organizations now optimize their content to generate high engagement and prioritize attention-grabbing headlines. This shift has led to the rise of clickbait and sensationalized news stories that attract viral attention but may lack substance or accuracy.
Context Collapse and the Distortion of Online Content
Online platforms often strip away the context of content, leading to context collapse. This occurs when an event or interaction is shared without its original context, resulting in skewed perspectives and narratives. People then add their own context, further distorting the meaning and creating moral outrage, which can spread rapidly and influence public opinion.
The Influence of Social Media on Moral Emotions and Tribalism
Social media plays a significant role in triggering moral emotions and fueling tribalism. Algorithms amplify content that aligns with individuals' moral values, which leads to the formation of moral tribes or identity groups online. Moral threats spark in-group identification and out-group denigration, shaping the polarization and divisiveness seen on social media platforms.
The Influence of Social Media on Political Extremism
Social media usage is associated with increased political extremism. Research conducted at Yale University suggests that spending more time on social media platforms can lead individuals to become more politically extreme over time. This is due to the power of moral outrage expressed on social media, which has the ability to change behavior. The concept is compared to B.F. Skinner's operant conditioning experiments with pigeons, where exposure to intermittent rewards led to obsessive behavior. Similarly, social media operates by providing intermittent rewards such as likes and shares, which can train users to seek more outrageous content. Moral and emotional words used in online posts have been found to significantly boost virality. As a result, individuals who express outrage online are likely to continue sharing more extreme content and become more extreme themselves. The potential consequences of this phenomenon on democracy and the need to address it are discussed.
The Role of Social Media in Polarizing Society
Social media platforms contribute to the polarized nature of contemporary discourse. The online environment is characterized by coordination traps, where individuals are incentivized to prioritize their audience's desires over constructive debate and understanding. Misinformation and semantic drift further exacerbate these issues. Individuals' tendency to seek in-group familiarity and tribalism amplifies the divisiveness. The dynamics of disagreement are examined, emphasizing the value of reframing concerns in terms of others' values. By understanding the moral or emotional foundations that shape an individual's perspective, it is possible to communicate more effectively, focusing on shared values and seeking common ground. Strategies are proposed to engage in better disagreements and address the inherent challenges of productive discussions in the digital era.
The Impact of Misinformation and Media Manipulation
The proliferation of misinformation and media manipulation poses significant challenges to societies. Social media platforms' algorithms prioritize engagement, often leading to the perpetuation and amplification of false and emotionally charged content. This raises concerns about the future implications of AI-generated personalized outrage content. The weaponization of individuals' digital footprints and the tailored creation of bespoke outrage content can further deepen societal divisions. The need for increased media literacy, critical thinking, and discernment in consuming news and information is emphasized. Encouraging constructive public debate, refining information filters, and striving for accurate reporting are essential to safeguard democratic functioning and combat the spread of misinformation.
Outrage Machine author Tobias Rose-Stockwell explains how social media fuels our negative emotions and disrupts society — and what we can do about it.
What We Discuss with Tobias Rose-Stockwell:
How social media inadvertently created what Tobias Rose-Stockwell calls an "outrage machine" that fuels our negative emotions and disrupts society.
Because it generates more attention (which translates into more money), negative news is more widely shared and discussed than good news, which makes it seem like the world is worse than it actually is.
The more information we produce and share online, the more powerful the algorithms and AI designed to keep us engaged — and outraged — become.
The longer people spend on social media, the more likely they are to be politically extreme — and elements on every inch of the political spectrum manipulate this to their advantage.
The steps we can take to guard against the outrage machine's control over our emotions and distortion of our reality.
