Sorry this is so long, but it did not come in the form of an article to share as a link (it is a Facebook post). The writer makes a point that is very important for all of us on social media, especially for those on Twitter. BTW, you may not agree with the political or religious views he mentions, but his main point – that the algorithms show you the worst of those you disagree with (and show others the worst of those on your side) – is what’s important. (The original post was even a bit longer. I edited out a few paragraphs that were more examples of what he is writing about.)
“Media is trying to make you a hateful person. Don’t let it.
Loving your neighbor requires hard and intentional work.
I was listening to an article (pretty cool that some articles have audio options!) the other day about how the algorithms work for social media and news. They found that stories and quips that highlighted the worst of people gained about eight times more traction than those that highlighted the best.
Long story short, the outrage model was crafted. And it has only getting stronger. The article only estimates, but that 8:1 ratio is likely closer to 50:1 now.
You may THINK you are immune to it, but it’s worth a double check. Even with this knowledge, you’ll undoubtedly struggle to see reality for what it is.
As a Christian, the algorithm recognizes that I am highly likely to respond to atheists being idiots. Do I get thoughtful articles about geological surveys and primordial biological theory? Absolutely not. Instead, I get to see Richard Dawkins being a eugenicist, some randos on Twitter who clearly didn’t graduate elementary school, and YouTubers crapping their pants during a debate.
If I were to just accept my experiences as the only reality there is, then I would logically conclude that atheists are morons and, if there is any good there, it has been vastly overwhelmed by the idiots.
But hold on a moment. Knowing what we know about the algorithm, what do you think an atheist’s feed is going to look like in regards to Christianity?
Am I so foolish as to believe they are getting the kind people who risk their freedom and lives to feed the homeless, the kind that think God is love, the kind that turn the other cheek?
Hahahaha NOPE. It’s Walsh. Knowles. Osteen. Driscoll. It’s people that I, as a Christian, would not know exist if it weren’t for atheists conflating my theology with theirs.
For two years, the most common result delivered when people searched for libertarian was Nathan Larson. I had no idea because, being a libertarian, the search result gave me something different. Ultimately, everybody thought this Larson guy and his manifesto was a pretty big deal for libertarians. I’d never heard of him. And I dedicated dozens of hours per week to the cause. . . .
If this kind of thing didn’t work, they wouldn’t do it. . . .
Almost all of the most famous people we know in the political sphere are made popular because of hatred. Simply deduced, the people who gain traction only gain traction because their works and deeds are shared by those who hate them. And that hate is very justified. What isn’t justified is the attention they’ve been given in the era.
Is it any wonder, then, that the worst humanity has to offer winds up running for political office?
Trump and Biden are made famous because they recruit new members. But they recruit new members FOR THE OTHER TEAM. Walsh and Shapiro are not being boosted because they make more people conservative, it’s because they make people hate conservatism. Maddow and Cuomo do this for the flip side.
They are not alone. Look at basically any big figure in politics and media. There is an overwhelming chance that they are famous because of how well they recruit for people who hate them.
But let’s bring this back down to a personal level. We must be hyper-aware of what is going on. We can blame the cold algorithms, that would be easy enough, but the truth of the matter is that these were created based on our own activities. All they did was weaponize a problem that was already there.
To snap out of this, you’re going to have to do hard work. You’re going to have to stop mindlessly scrolling on the toilet, otherwise you’ll think every lefty is LibsOfTikTok bananas and every righty is QAnon garbage. You’re going to have to mindfully scroll on the toilet (don’t worry, toilet-scrollers, we can keep our activity, we just have to keep our guard up!).
This is mind control. You will have to fight your natural programming to resist it. But it is worth it. Seeing your neighbors for who they are instead of the deranged psychopaths the media paints them out to be is vital to how this world will heal.”
I can’t read that long post, Kizzie, but agree that social media seeks in many cases to gain more activity by posting the most outrageous and inflammatory messages. It certainly goes against how we are instructed to be people of fewer words, with our yes being yes and our no being no.
Exactly. Like it or not, everyone has these basic rights. Whether you like the Bad Orange Man or not, he deserves the same. It’s about basic rights and fairness.
Part of due process is the ability of average people to be able to figure out where they stand, and what is and is not legal. When laws are bent and twisted at the whim of rulers, you have no law, and no due process.
The bad news is that former Speaker Pelosi does not understand Constitutional due process. The good news is that Twitter community notes apparently does. pic.twitter.com/hzpzF3hxtv
I wonder if the entire election cycle will now be about the Trump indictment. Resisting extradition from Florida might mean he can’t be sent to NY, but can they grab him from Idaho or Tennessee or any other state? Can he safely leave Florida?
Your rights mean nothing to these un-American vermin.
Truly heartbreaking how the left's obsessive hatred of one man is resulting in the destruction of every norm and standard holding this republic together. And difficult to know what to do to stop their hate and its destruction. Lord, have mercy!
A trans person kills 3 Christian children and this is how the White House responds while saying nothing about standing with the Christian community in America. pic.twitter.com/aits1xoWFC
Appropriate that a 24 hour period where leftists stormed state capitol buildings with no legal consequence should end with Democrats indicting their chief political rival. There is no justice system in this country. There is a system, but justice is not what it's interested in.
Exactly – where’s the black book of perverted pedos who abused all those children and what about any evidence collected from the island or did that disappear as well ?
Instead, the left targets President Trump in one of the most egregious actions seen against US president .… https://t.co/a10Ugo3vu1
Everyone give a sigh of relief that this "violent extremist" (FBIs words) will now have her life destroyed over minor offenses.
Case will be prosecuted by DC US Atty Matt Graves, now facing harsh criticism for refusing to prosecute violent criminals in the nation's capital. pic.twitter.com/wP5EbYXHXJ
“They didn’t understand very much about our city.”
“They weren’t even from big cities. These were people living on farms in rural places, most of them had no concept of Washington, D.C.”https://t.co/BtXGxvs2ed
The USA is officially under full frontal assault by America-hating Communists who have stolen power from “We the People.” Stolen elections have huge consequences. We sit at the precipice of totalitarian
rule – these are evil people.
If the GOP as a national party, state and federal officials at every level, governors, congressmen, senators, do not galvanize immediately, then the national suicide that we are witnessing every day will soon be completed.
We are watching Obama’s “fundamental transformation of America” unfold before our eyes. This is their kill shot on the USA. They want anarchy and civil unrest, so that they can then invoke Martial Law . They also want a reason to be able to take our 2nd Amendment rights away from us.
Today it’s President Trump. Tomorrow, it is you and I. Have you had enough yet?
Kizzie, @10:46, good post and so true. Some of us in the media industry have been aware of the rising “click wars” for some time and how damaging it’s been to what we and our neighbors end up seeing, reading and being exposed to, then believing, whether it’s true or not, day after day.
When you look at how our cultural anger and discourse have basically spun out in the past decade, it all lands back on that first step of social media influence which seems like it’s just taken over — the way we think, talk and “do” politics.
Why are people so angry? Always outraged? The nation has been divided before, but it’s hard to argue that we’re not in an especially very deep pit right now.
I’m on Twitter but I am careful about whom I follow. I’ve withdrawn from the loudest of the “opinion” jockey programs that purport to be “news” (they’re just not). I won’t typically watch or listen to those anymore, I personally can’t afford it as a believer who has a different behavior calling to try to follow, and I already do that poorly enough without the bad outside influences.
I will look for smart, thoughtful analysis and opinion, not yelling or one-sided “debate” (which isn’t debate at all, of course). Give me both sides, and give it to me calmly, with reason and respect. I’m capable of making my own mind up.
Flame-throwing as a political weapon is toxic for both the thrower and the receiver. Probably most importantly for believers, it’s also become a serious challenge as we are called (commanded, in fact) to live, speak, love and participate by a counter-cultural standard.
That’s hard enough in normal circumstances, but in today’s environment? Much harder.
Still, it’s too easy to find yourself caught up in the whirlwind of nastiness that’s all around us — and responding in kind.
I’m truly sorry we’re in such a mess with this political environment and now this election season, which was going to be hard enough as it was even without this indictment. But here we are. The outrage level could potentially be off the charts and that’s not going to help any of us, or the nation.
God, in his providence, is allowing this circumstance we find ourselves in to persist and even to seemingly grow darker by our standards based only on what we can see in the here and now. There is much more to the story but that remains within God’s secret decree and for reasons we cannot see.
But prayer is certainly in order. I lately find myself concerned about a possible outbreak of violence should this continue. With the high emotional levels, it could come out of either or both sides of the political war that we’re seeing all around us.
Pray for calm and level heads to prevail, in us and in others.
Why are people angry and outraged?
Possibly because they see something they love being killed and think there should be something they should be able to do to stop it.
Shaking our fists is not the solution, and neither is wringing our hands and saying ‘ what will be will be’. In one instance we risk losing the faith, and in the other we risk becoming the wicked unprofitable servant who hid his talents in the ground.
Just to be clear, I don’t think anyone’s saying, “what will be will be,” when pointing to God’s providence. We are called to participate, we are called to act based on conscience, and we certainly are called to pray, but always in ways commanded by Scripture and not the world around us.
It seems now is likely a time to pray, for the most part, and also to watch (which is an action as well).
We don’t know how this will all play out, it’s all unfolding and will continue to do so for some time.
Things could get worse than we think — or dissipate and resolve in a better way than we’d hoped.
And my question about why are people so outraged — probably poorly phrased and not what I meant. It’s the actions and the words of open outrage, including among believers, I’m addressing for the most part.
The atmosphere around us — and this came way before last night — has been ramping up for years, driven largely by access and often poor uses of social media. Some of our politicians themselves have been poor examples of this.
Freedom of speech needs to be exercised with responsibility. When it’s not, we have the situation we too often have now. Fist shaking. No one’s suggesting censorship here. But it’s helpful to remind ourselves of the responsibility, also, that comes with that freedom (and all freedoms we’ve enjoyed for so long in this country — and hope to enjoy for many years to come).
Like I said, this won’t end as they intend. Good job idiots.
.@glennbeck goes NUCLEAR in response to Trump's indictment:
"The bill of rights is gone. Nobody is paying attention…Donald Trump is not even a person anymore. He’s a symbol. He’s a symbol of the average everyday guy that keeps getting screwed every single time." pic.twitter.com/EUD0Exph93
More victim blaming and lionizing the criminal from the usual suspects.
Again, this ain’t social media.
The absurdity of this angle…three children are dead. Three of their caretakers are dead. They were murdered for the sin of minding their own business at their own school. And THIS is what @Reuters is worried about. https://t.co/bf8poGQHUC
More rhetoric to fan the flames of violence. The author should be held accountable when the inevitable violence against Christians happens as a result of his inflammatory and inciting framing of this discussion.
After tweeting and deleting this story at least three times in 24 hours , @DailyMirror has seemingly given up on their story mourning the loss of Audrey Hale and deleted it all together. I wonder why they don’t have any conviction in their reporting. pic.twitter.com/oIkw0wq7ZG
DJ, I know that I sometimes think ‘what will be will be’ because I’m not sure how this will all shake out and feel like I should be doing more but can’t or don’t know what. God is always and forever in control, but that doesn’t negate our freedom or obligation to act, to be wise, and to be responsible. And part of that is waiting on the Lord, and part of it is also raising the alarm, the outcry, sounding the trumpet when we see danger. Unfortunately, danger is all too common at this time, both in the physical and in the spiritual, and that makes for a lot of noise. That may just be part of what we have to endure right now.
AJ – The point the writer of my post made was that the social media (probably mostly Twitter, but also Facebook) algorithms cause conservatives to see the worst of what liberals are posting, and liberals to see the worst of what conservatives are posting, thus leading each side to think that those on the other side are all as bad as the worst of them. It is the negative posts that mostly get re-tweeted or shared.
There are actually reasonable and intelligent posts and articles on both sides, but those are not the ones that are shared much.
With the negative posts on Side A being shared by those on Side B to show how awful those on Side A are, many people on both sides of the political spectrum are making judgments on their opponents based on what they see on Twitter or Facebook, not necessarily what the “rank and file” of each side actually believes.
There are A LOT more posts about how bad “the other side” is than about how good “our” side is. It is often/usually the offensive views of the minority of a group that are shared by the other side to paint the whole group that way.
Kizzie, in your opinion, who is doing the reasonable and intelligent articles for the Democratic position right now? I would consider broadening my intake.
Debra – I have to admit that I don’t know off-hand. I read some articles posted by my liberal friends, but don’t follow any particular sources myself. I was also referring to individuals posting on Facebook (and I assume Twitter, too). I can ask a couple people and get back to you.
Thanks, Kizzie. Also, who do you think are some of the intelligent and reasonable writers/speakers for the right of the aisle. To me, both Victor Davis Hanson and Jordan Peterson fit that description.
Debra – Honestly, I don’t think that I closely follow any particular writers. AJ is gonna hate this, but I do like The Dispatch. And I still read World magazine. Recently, I started getting Tangle in my email. It tries to present both sides of an issue.
Kizzie, Re the Dispatch-well we all have our biases and you’re as entitled to yours as everyone else. We’re just human beings doing the best we can. I’ll check out Tangle. :–)
“The atmosphere around us — and this came way before last night — has been ramping up for years, driven largely by access and often poor uses of social media.”
Also, I’m not at all shocked you like the Dispatch. You’re a never-Trumper, so it fits for you. You read what fits your bias, as do most people.
Wandering Views 
Yes, “working” exactly as they designed them to, which is not at all.
“WH: Biden’s Border Policies “Working” As 1.3 Million Escape Into US Since Biden Took Office…”
LikeLiked by 2 people
In case you missed it last night, Ron has come around and seen the error he made.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sorry this is so long, but it did not come in the form of an article to share as a link (it is a Facebook post). The writer makes a point that is very important for all of us on social media, especially for those on Twitter. BTW, you may not agree with the political or religious views he mentions, but his main point – that the algorithms show you the worst of those you disagree with (and show others the worst of those on your side) – is what’s important. (The original post was even a bit longer. I edited out a few paragraphs that were more examples of what he is writing about.)
“Media is trying to make you a hateful person. Don’t let it.
Loving your neighbor requires hard and intentional work.
I was listening to an article (pretty cool that some articles have audio options!) the other day about how the algorithms work for social media and news. They found that stories and quips that highlighted the worst of people gained about eight times more traction than those that highlighted the best.
Long story short, the outrage model was crafted. And it has only getting stronger. The article only estimates, but that 8:1 ratio is likely closer to 50:1 now.
You may THINK you are immune to it, but it’s worth a double check. Even with this knowledge, you’ll undoubtedly struggle to see reality for what it is.
As a Christian, the algorithm recognizes that I am highly likely to respond to atheists being idiots. Do I get thoughtful articles about geological surveys and primordial biological theory? Absolutely not. Instead, I get to see Richard Dawkins being a eugenicist, some randos on Twitter who clearly didn’t graduate elementary school, and YouTubers crapping their pants during a debate.
If I were to just accept my experiences as the only reality there is, then I would logically conclude that atheists are morons and, if there is any good there, it has been vastly overwhelmed by the idiots.
But hold on a moment. Knowing what we know about the algorithm, what do you think an atheist’s feed is going to look like in regards to Christianity?
Am I so foolish as to believe they are getting the kind people who risk their freedom and lives to feed the homeless, the kind that think God is love, the kind that turn the other cheek?
Hahahaha NOPE. It’s Walsh. Knowles. Osteen. Driscoll. It’s people that I, as a Christian, would not know exist if it weren’t for atheists conflating my theology with theirs.
For two years, the most common result delivered when people searched for libertarian was Nathan Larson. I had no idea because, being a libertarian, the search result gave me something different. Ultimately, everybody thought this Larson guy and his manifesto was a pretty big deal for libertarians. I’d never heard of him. And I dedicated dozens of hours per week to the cause. . . .
If this kind of thing didn’t work, they wouldn’t do it. . . .
Almost all of the most famous people we know in the political sphere are made popular because of hatred. Simply deduced, the people who gain traction only gain traction because their works and deeds are shared by those who hate them. And that hate is very justified. What isn’t justified is the attention they’ve been given in the era.
Is it any wonder, then, that the worst humanity has to offer winds up running for political office?
Trump and Biden are made famous because they recruit new members. But they recruit new members FOR THE OTHER TEAM. Walsh and Shapiro are not being boosted because they make more people conservative, it’s because they make people hate conservatism. Maddow and Cuomo do this for the flip side.
They are not alone. Look at basically any big figure in politics and media. There is an overwhelming chance that they are famous because of how well they recruit for people who hate them.
But let’s bring this back down to a personal level. We must be hyper-aware of what is going on. We can blame the cold algorithms, that would be easy enough, but the truth of the matter is that these were created based on our own activities. All they did was weaponize a problem that was already there.
To snap out of this, you’re going to have to do hard work. You’re going to have to stop mindlessly scrolling on the toilet, otherwise you’ll think every lefty is LibsOfTikTok bananas and every righty is QAnon garbage. You’re going to have to mindfully scroll on the toilet (don’t worry, toilet-scrollers, we can keep our activity, we just have to keep our guard up!).
This is mind control. You will have to fight your natural programming to resist it. But it is worth it. Seeing your neighbors for who they are instead of the deranged psychopaths the media paints them out to be is vital to how this world will heal.”
LikeLike
I can’t read that long post, Kizzie, but agree that social media seeks in many cases to gain more activity by posting the most outrageous and inflammatory messages. It certainly goes against how we are instructed to be people of fewer words, with our yes being yes and our no being no.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Matthew 5:37
But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I notice that AJ used the word Yes to begin today’s thread😀
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Exactly. Like it or not, everyone has these basic rights. Whether you like the Bad Orange Man or not, he deserves the same. It’s about basic rights and fairness.
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Great Tweet and response to Pelosi. Simple.Truth.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I wonder if the entire election cycle will now be about the Trump indictment. Resisting extradition from Florida might mean he can’t be sent to NY, but can they grab him from Idaho or Tennessee or any other state? Can he safely leave Florida?
This is a mess.
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This is a big, major mess. @11:56
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This is exactly the chaos dems want.
Your rights mean nothing to these un-American vermin.
This is who they represent, not you, the pervs.
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Truth.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Useless propagandists.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The persecution continues.
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Truth.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Justice?
Not at all.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Remember kids, no one is above the law…
CONTENT WARNING!!!!
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The USA is officially under full frontal assault by America-hating Communists who have stolen power from “We the People.” Stolen elections have huge consequences. We sit at the precipice of totalitarian
rule – these are evil people.
If the GOP as a national party, state and federal officials at every level, governors, congressmen, senators, do not galvanize immediately, then the national suicide that we are witnessing every day will soon be completed.
We are watching Obama’s “fundamental transformation of America” unfold before our eyes. This is their kill shot on the USA. They want anarchy and civil unrest, so that they can then invoke Martial Law . They also want a reason to be able to take our 2nd Amendment rights away from us.
Today it’s President Trump. Tomorrow, it is you and I. Have you had enough yet?
LikeLiked by 3 people
Kizzie, @10:46, good post and so true. Some of us in the media industry have been aware of the rising “click wars” for some time and how damaging it’s been to what we and our neighbors end up seeing, reading and being exposed to, then believing, whether it’s true or not, day after day.
When you look at how our cultural anger and discourse have basically spun out in the past decade, it all lands back on that first step of social media influence which seems like it’s just taken over — the way we think, talk and “do” politics.
Why are people so angry? Always outraged? The nation has been divided before, but it’s hard to argue that we’re not in an especially very deep pit right now.
I’m on Twitter but I am careful about whom I follow. I’ve withdrawn from the loudest of the “opinion” jockey programs that purport to be “news” (they’re just not). I won’t typically watch or listen to those anymore, I personally can’t afford it as a believer who has a different behavior calling to try to follow, and I already do that poorly enough without the bad outside influences.
I will look for smart, thoughtful analysis and opinion, not yelling or one-sided “debate” (which isn’t debate at all, of course). Give me both sides, and give it to me calmly, with reason and respect. I’m capable of making my own mind up.
Flame-throwing as a political weapon is toxic for both the thrower and the receiver. Probably most importantly for believers, it’s also become a serious challenge as we are called (commanded, in fact) to live, speak, love and participate by a counter-cultural standard.
That’s hard enough in normal circumstances, but in today’s environment? Much harder.
Still, it’s too easy to find yourself caught up in the whirlwind of nastiness that’s all around us — and responding in kind.
I’m truly sorry we’re in such a mess with this political environment and now this election season, which was going to be hard enough as it was even without this indictment. But here we are. The outrage level could potentially be off the charts and that’s not going to help any of us, or the nation.
God, in his providence, is allowing this circumstance we find ourselves in to persist and even to seemingly grow darker by our standards based only on what we can see in the here and now. There is much more to the story but that remains within God’s secret decree and for reasons we cannot see.
But prayer is certainly in order. I lately find myself concerned about a possible outbreak of violence should this continue. With the high emotional levels, it could come out of either or both sides of the political war that we’re seeing all around us.
Pray for calm and level heads to prevail, in us and in others.
Keep the faith.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I have yet to see how it went with the De Santis visit yesterday. Probably because I went to sleep early last night and did not catch the news.
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Why are people angry and outraged?
Possibly because they see something they love being killed and think there should be something they should be able to do to stop it.
Shaking our fists is not the solution, and neither is wringing our hands and saying ‘ what will be will be’. In one instance we risk losing the faith, and in the other we risk becoming the wicked unprofitable servant who hid his talents in the ground.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Just to be clear, I don’t think anyone’s saying, “what will be will be,” when pointing to God’s providence. We are called to participate, we are called to act based on conscience, and we certainly are called to pray, but always in ways commanded by Scripture and not the world around us.
It seems now is likely a time to pray, for the most part, and also to watch (which is an action as well).
We don’t know how this will all play out, it’s all unfolding and will continue to do so for some time.
Things could get worse than we think — or dissipate and resolve in a better way than we’d hoped.
We don’t know what we don’t know yet.
LikeLiked by 3 people
So how is social media responsible for these corrupt fools?
The news media is responsible for much of what’s wrong with the political climate and discourse.
Both sides of an argument?
No. Never.
LikeLiked by 3 people
And my question about why are people so outraged — probably poorly phrased and not what I meant. It’s the actions and the words of open outrage, including among believers, I’m addressing for the most part.
The atmosphere around us — and this came way before last night — has been ramping up for years, driven largely by access and often poor uses of social media. Some of our politicians themselves have been poor examples of this.
Freedom of speech needs to be exercised with responsibility. When it’s not, we have the situation we too often have now. Fist shaking. No one’s suggesting censorship here. But it’s helpful to remind ourselves of the responsibility, also, that comes with that freedom (and all freedoms we’ve enjoyed for so long in this country — and hope to enjoy for many years to come).
LikeLiked by 1 person
These are hard and emotional times.
None of this is easy for anyone.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Like I said, this won’t end as they intend. Good job idiots.
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More victim blaming and lionizing the criminal from the usual suspects.
Again, this ain’t social media.
Or is it somehow Twitter’s fault for folks pointing these clowns out in their own words?
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These people are revolting and tone deaf.
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DJ, I know that I sometimes think ‘what will be will be’ because I’m not sure how this will all shake out and feel like I should be doing more but can’t or don’t know what. God is always and forever in control, but that doesn’t negate our freedom or obligation to act, to be wise, and to be responsible. And part of that is waiting on the Lord, and part of it is also raising the alarm, the outcry, sounding the trumpet when we see danger. Unfortunately, danger is all too common at this time, both in the physical and in the spiritual, and that makes for a lot of noise. That may just be part of what we have to endure right now.
LikeLiked by 3 people
The ads will write themselves.
“Trump Scheduled to be Arraigned at 2:15 P.M. on Tuesday
Let the circus begin.”
https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/03/trump-scheduled-to-be-arraigned-at-215-p-m-on-tuesday/
“A court spokesman said President Donald Trump’s arraignment would happen on Tuesday:
Former President Donald Trump will be arraigned at 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, a court spokesperson said Friday.
The arraignment schedule comes just hours after Trump, 76, was indicted by the Manhattan DA’s office Thursday following weeks of speculation.
His lawyer, Joe Tacopina, has claimed that he faces more than 30 counts of fraud.”
LikeLiked by 2 people
AJ – The point the writer of my post made was that the social media (probably mostly Twitter, but also Facebook) algorithms cause conservatives to see the worst of what liberals are posting, and liberals to see the worst of what conservatives are posting, thus leading each side to think that those on the other side are all as bad as the worst of them. It is the negative posts that mostly get re-tweeted or shared.
There are actually reasonable and intelligent posts and articles on both sides, but those are not the ones that are shared much.
With the negative posts on Side A being shared by those on Side B to show how awful those on Side A are, many people on both sides of the political spectrum are making judgments on their opponents based on what they see on Twitter or Facebook, not necessarily what the “rank and file” of each side actually believes.
There are A LOT more posts about how bad “the other side” is than about how good “our” side is. It is often/usually the offensive views of the minority of a group that are shared by the other side to paint the whole group that way.
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Kizzie, in your opinion, who is doing the reasonable and intelligent articles for the Democratic position right now? I would consider broadening my intake.
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Debra – I have to admit that I don’t know off-hand. I read some articles posted by my liberal friends, but don’t follow any particular sources myself. I was also referring to individuals posting on Facebook (and I assume Twitter, too). I can ask a couple people and get back to you.
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Thanks, Kizzie. Also, who do you think are some of the intelligent and reasonable writers/speakers for the right of the aisle. To me, both Victor Davis Hanson and Jordan Peterson fit that description.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Debra – Honestly, I don’t think that I closely follow any particular writers. AJ is gonna hate this, but I do like The Dispatch. And I still read World magazine. Recently, I started getting Tangle in my email. It tries to present both sides of an issue.
https://www.readtangle.com/
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Kizzie, Re the Dispatch-well we all have our biases and you’re as entitled to yours as everyone else. We’re just human beings doing the best we can. I’ll check out Tangle. :–)
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Kizzie,
My comment wasn’t about your post. Don’t assume.
It was a response to this from DJ.
“The atmosphere around us — and this came way before last night — has been ramping up for years, driven largely by access and often poor uses of social media.”
Also, I’m not at all shocked you like the Dispatch. You’re a never-Trumper, so it fits for you. You read what fits your bias, as do most people.
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