To be fair, news outlets do the same thing. 20 years ago, televised news got people to watch by teasing outrage or fear stories. "You'll never believe what thi

To be fair, news outlets do the same thing. 20 years ago, televised news got people to watch by teasing outrage or fear stories. "You'll never believe what this politician said...". They did it because it worked. Social media has evolved into people replicating that same behavior. The more outrageous or rage-inducing the content, the more engaged the viewer. I don't put 100% of the blame on social media platforms, though. We all need to accept some responsibility for what we consume. As much as we like to blame "the algorithm", it's not very different than nicotine in cigarettes or the sugar in donuts. Placing all of the blame on social media companies almost enables the negative behavior more, by pretending that it's entirely out of our control.