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The problem is with how facebook amplifies messages. By showing you the posts you're most likely to engage with, Facebook encourages polarization. In normal soc

The problem is with how facebook amplifies messages. By showing you the posts you're most likely to engage with, Facebook encourages polarization. In normal society, if you hold a hateful, minority opinion like deeply racist beliefs, you're more likely to be presented the majority opinion. Facebook allows you to disappear into a world where you only are exposed to people that agree with you.

throwawaysea 6y ago
I agree that Facebook encourages you into echo chambers. I think that's even more true of Twitter. Reddit is also like that. In my experience YouTube is better in this regard than the others, but perhaps also problematic. The users of these platforms don't make this easy, however. As an example, if you try to cross the "party lines" and engage on a post in a Facebook group you may not be aligned with, you will be met with ridicule and vitriol, rather than neutral intellectual discussion. A flood of reactions will occur. Memes/gifs will be used. People will use phrases like "OK Boomer" or call you a "Karen" or accuse you of being a "Communist" or "White supremacist" or whatever else. It's not pleasant. The other, bigger risk, is by engaging outside the echo chamber you also need to expose yourself to actions outside of Facebook. First, your social circle may observe your comments or what you like and that may have social consequences in a world where no one is allowed to harbor differing opinions. Worse, people do doxx others, try to shame them in 'real life', get them fired, and so on. This is a particularly common practice on the left side of the American political spectrum (see 'cancel culture', https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/opinion/cancel-culture-682272 https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/opinion/cancel-culture-682272). There is little psychological safety even on anonymous platforms like Reddit, so I think it would be much harder for anything but echo chambers to form on a platform that requires de-anonymization like Facebook.

throwawaysea 6y ago

I agree that Facebook encourages you into echo chambers. I think that's even more true of Twitter. Reddit is also like that. In my experience YouTube is better in this regard than the others, but perhaps also problematic. The users of these platforms don't make this easy, however. As an example, if you try to cross the "party lines" and engage on a post in a Facebook group you may not be aligned with, you will be met with ridicule and vitriol, rather than neutral intellectual discussion. A flood of reactions will occur. Memes/gifs will be used. People will use phrases like "OK Boomer" or call you a "Karen" or accuse you of being a "Communist" or "White supremacist" or whatever else. It's not pleasant. The other, bigger risk, is by engaging outside the echo chamber you also need to expose yourself to actions outside of Facebook. First, your social circle may observe your comments or what you like and that may have social consequences in a world where no one is allowed to harbor differing opinions. Worse, people do doxx others, try to shame them in 'real life', get them fired, and so on. This is a particularly common practice on the left side of the American political spectrum (see 'cancel culture', https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/opinion/cancel-culture-682272 https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/opinion/cancel-culture-682272). There is little psychological safety even on anonymous platforms like Reddit, so I think it would be much harder for anything but echo chambers to form on a platform that requires de-anonymization like Facebook.