Yes, everybody has always been like this, but tech has changed the social nature of interaction. It&#x27;s not just Facebook. Any online community (including HN) has a desire to limit conflict -- you want people enjoying themselves and contributing. That means &quot;Don&#x27;t show me stuff that I disagree with&quot;<p>There&#x27;s a natural conflict of interest. In the real world, we are forced to live with and confront those of widely varying opinions. Many times this is a huge pain in the ass. But it&#x27;s good for the species overall. Over time, initially unpopular and ugly opinions get vetted: about one in a 100&#x2F;1000 turn out to be a critical evolution in the way all of us think about ourselves.<p>In the virtual world, no such limits exist. We cannot afford to have the 1% folks who destroy discourse, so we just magically make them not exist. People share and promote emotional things which the vast majority can agree on. Instead of the outliers driving change, we begin to norm down those farther and farther out on the bell curve.<p>So people turn inward to their phones and tribes. We physically live next to each other, but we don&#x27;t actually live with each other. Instead of a diverse and accomplished species, we are slowly becoming one large, comfortable mob.