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The article repeatedly points to Obama's election as a turning point. While I won't argue that his election wasn't consequential, I think the timing is mostly c
by tspike 8y ago
The article repeatedly points to Obama's election as a turning point. While I won't argue that his election wasn't consequential, I think the timing is mostly coincidental.
2008-2009 is right around when the internet became mainstream. It's when everyone and their mothers signed up for Facebook and when people got smartphones in their hands for the first time. Civil discourse moved almost entirely online, which is a particularly bad venue for it.
Microtargeted ads became a thing, and fringe ideas found large audiences. If you are looking at analytics for your electorate, which metrics "pop" more- the reactions to middle-of-the-road, nuanced discourse, or sound bite extremism?
- Tsubasachan 8y agoWell having an uppity Muslim black guy being elected for president was a wakeup call for a certain segment of society.
- cududa 8y agoIgnoring the factually untrue Muslim part, what precisely made him an “uppity black guy”?
- dragonwriter 8y agoI think GP was referencing the perceptions of a politically-significant share of the population with that description, not endorsing them as accurate. I hope so, at least.
- Tsubasachan 8y agoYes. America is now so far gone that I should have used an /S my bad.