Someone out there is doing a study on meta-communication during COVID. The internalization of dominant narratives on social media is such an unspoken axiom, th

Someone out there is doing a study on meta-communication during COVID. The internalization of dominant narratives on social media is such an unspoken axiom, that merely SUGGESTING optimism results in a flurry of "we can't be sure!" finger-waves. One could hypothesize that those who derive greater self-esteem or self-worth from social dynamics would engage in behaviors where the long-run probability of increasing self-esteem is higher. In other words, the most adaptive posts on both sides of a social media debate would be those which: A) maximally increase self-esteem via ingroup loyalty, and B) cause the debate to be prolonged or not resolved, thereby increasing the duration of A. The "we can't be sure" defense in response to optimism is B.