I remain mixed as to how much I think the platforms actually affect discourse and how much I think the discourse on the platforms are just artifacts of the orig

I remain mixed as to how much I think the platforms actually affect discourse and how much I think the discourse on the platforms are just artifacts of the originating culture. Japanese interaction, for example, also happens en masse on Twitter but is much more polite than the IoBs of both the US and India. And while Indian discourse has a lot of beefs, it's less bipolar than the US one is (probably because India has a slew of different political parties and regional differences even if India is grappling with its own populist party at the moment.) I also wonder how much English acts as the contagion vector since this form of highly polarizing, self-righteous discourse can spread through folks who read/write in English while the language barrier to Japanese stops it from taking root.