The long-term effects of ugly political discussions on Facebook (2014)
The problem with political discussion on Facebook is the problem that has always existed with political discussion. Facebook just amplifies it x100. People simplify political rhetoric to fit it into a finite number of &quot;camps&quot;: Democrat&#x2F;republican, liberal&#x2F;conservative, &quot;SJW&quot;&#x2F;anti-PC, feminist&#x2F;mysoginist...<p>The simplified rhetoric pigeonholes issues into bipolar ideological frameworks. As a result, political &quot;discussion&quot; does not reflect the reality of complex networks of opinions, people, and ideas. Instead, it reflects a shallow mask of &quot;us&quot; and &quot;them.&quot; Nuanced, rational discussion does not stand a chance against the uncontrollable biases of ingroup&#x2F;outgroup psychology.<p>Once someone forms an opinion, and finds validation of it from within a group, they have joined the ingroup. At that point, it will be nearly impossible to move them to the outgroup. Hearing any opinions from the outgroup will only drive them further into the ingroup, as they retreat to the echo chamber of their peers and emotionally reconfirm their own beliefs instead of critically engaging opposing viewpoints.<p>Of course, I&#x27;m mostly talking about the &quot;ingroup&quot; of &quot;feminists and SJWs&quot; (I hate that acronym because it seems hypocritical to criticize SJWs for reductionism and then give them an acronym). Right now the &quot;regressive left&quot; is certainly the most guilty of seeking affirmation from ingroup dynamics, and the group most unwilling to engage with the opposition.<p>However, I think <i>every single human</i> is subject to the same biases of ingroup&#x2F;outgroup psychology. The &quot;SJW&quot; group is only the most recent example of a group whose opinions are pigeonholed, amplified, and ultimately opposed. But many of the people crusading against political correctness are guilty of the same unwillingness to consider the other side.<p>This dynamic has <i>always</i> existed, as long as humans have been a social species. It&#x27;s how society evolves. But it sure is messy.<p>(visualization of the political polarization in congress: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;wonk&#x2F;wp&#x2F;2015&#x2F;04&#x2F;23&#x2F;a-stunning-visualization-of-our-divided-congress&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;wonk&#x2F;wp&#x2F;2015&#x2F;04&#x2F;23&#x2F;a-stu...</a>)