The cynic in me feels like it's an engineered phenomenon to promote effective political apathy in the population while Balkanizing the exhausted general public

The cynic in me feels like it's an engineered phenomenon to promote effective political apathy in the population while Balkanizing the exhausted general public with elite-approved wedge issues to make them feel like they're engaging politically even though actual political topics like war, class inequality, education etc are out of bound and the incumbent political elite and media conglomerates are beneficiaries.