Outrage Machine

I read a post that spoke to me, down to the proposed solution. Dan Sinker (know nothing about him beyond this post, so I can’t speak to what else he writes about) defines the brokenness of social media:

We’re in a cycle of constant outrage (which is not to downplay how actually outrageous the time we’re living in is), pushed by the insatiable need for engagement that has been stoked by algorithms and the misaligned incentive structures that have emerged in the last few years that need people to stay mad bro to keep the dollars flowing.

Yes.

Not a fan of yelling.

I’m interested in his suggestion to take things smaller—instead of everyone on every platform, make social media smaller and more intimate: “Maybe that means building things that are smaller and closer and less visible to everyone.”

Which is definitely calmer, though you would come into contact with fewer new-to-you people. Or differently-minded people. One of the things the internet gave us was relationships and conversations and insights into people who lived halfway around the world. That’s kind of cool, right? I met people who lived very different lives from my own. And that wouldn’t happen in small, closed groups.

So I think we need to take it a step beyond. How do we create spaces where we’re not yelling? Where we’re not selling? Where we’re there to talk and connect and not to influence or convince? That is open to everyone so we can mix together?