The Trajectory We Are Choosing
Jonathan Haidt has an article for the Atlantic out this week in which argues for a perilous trajectory of American society. In Haidt’s view, that trajectory as been largely plotted the in the last decade and a half by the advent of viral social media culture. Fueled by the seemingly innocuous innovations of like and share buttons on social platforms, Haidt argues that digital culture now has become performative rather than expressive. Instead of encouraging honest, good-faith engagement, viral culture means that well-reasoned, nuanced views, digital culture punishes candor with a barrage of trolling or venomous condemnation.
The algorithms love conflicts and rage—the Robots know that feeding our baser instincts will lead to more profits. The Robots know we engage with content that gets us riled up. The Robots know we love to hate. Thus, they constantly train the users of social media to engage in the performance of cynicism, for such will likely be rewarded with more views, likes, and shares.
Haight also argues that the amplification of negativity is particularly effective not only when aimed att enemies, but when the target is an ally who their coalition’s doctrines. the boundaries of dogma (whether conservative or progressive), must be strictly enforced. No matter how slight the step out of bounds, the outcast must be pilloried to keep everyone else online. Thus our possibilities for dialogue or good faith conversation are snuffed out with prejudice.
It’s easy to see from his argument how we begin to resemble an entire society of emperors wearing no clothes. Our polarization doesn’t simply exist in the wide gulf between the established sides, but in the strength of the gravity at each pole…drifting away from the extreme is more and more dangerous—at least dangerous to how the algorithms view you, I suppose.
Haight offers some pragmatic systemic solutions to the trajectory, but leaves out that which simply requires greater virtues on behalf of the community. It may be that along with structural reforms, we also need to attend to the sort of character we bring to the social platforms and the greater public square.
It matters how we interact. We are curating our own character along the way.
Every choice I make to interact with a post, engage in a conversation, or share content, will have a multiplicative value—the algorithms will take each choice I make and feed me opportunities to make similar ones, like gravity turning a snowball into an avalanche. Recognizing the larger trend, I am compelled to consider not only what I’m contributing the the greater cultural conversation (as small as that impact might be), but also what I’m forming in myself as well.
Dare we choose to restrain our outrage and cynicism? Dare we choose to reach again towards each other, seeking connection, rather than chasing likes?
If you think so, be sure to share my post, follow me, like me, etc, etc. Or don’t. I’m learning to be less concerned either way, and perhaps we’ll all be better off that way.
Afterthought: One strange thing that Haight leaves out is that while he points out the dangers of our societal enemies using viral social media for divisive ends, he leaves out any real discussion of the most viral of social apps now: TikTok. How anyone can have a paragraph about the topic of China using social media to ill purposes without commenting on TikTok is a bit beyond me.
