PodcastsPlain English with Derek ThompsonA Psychologist Explains Four Reasons the Internet Feels So Broken

A Psychologist Explains Four Reasons the Internet Feels So Broken
Plain English with Derek ThompsonTue Apr 09 2024
Pop Girl Spring on Every Single Album:
- Various pop stars like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Dua Lipa, Maggie Rogers, Kacey Musgraves, and Ariana Grande are set to release new albums this spring.
- The podcast will cover these album releases starting March 28th and delve into the tortured poets department.
Negativity Bias in News Media and Social Media Engagement:
- Negativity bias is a prevalent phenomenon where bad news garners more attention than good news in media.
- Research from Upworthy revealed that negative words increased click-through rates by over 2%, while positive words decreased them by over 2%.
- This bias influences online content engagement due to humans being wired to pay more attention to threats for survival.
Extremism Online and False Polarization:
- Extremism drives engagement online as individuals with extreme views tend to comment more frequently, leading algorithms to prioritize their content.
- False polarization occurs when people perceive greater differences between groups' beliefs than actually exist due to algorithmic favoritism towards extreme positions.
Outgroup Animosity Driving Engagement:
- Outgroup animosity refers to negative references about political outgroups increasing social media post sharing odds by 67%.
- Political leaders often share content portraying opposing parties negatively as it significantly boosts engagement among followers.
- Schadenfreude plays a role in driving engagement through pleasure derived from witnessing harm or failure experienced by outgroups.
Moral Emotional Language Impacting Social Media Sharing:
- Moral emotional language combines moral terms like justice with emotional ones such as contempt or outrage.
- Tweets containing moral emotional language are about 10% to 20% more likely to be shared compared to those without such language.
- Usage of moral emotional words triggers higher arousal responses and increases sharing behavior on social media platforms.
Impact of Moral Emotional Words Online:
- The incorporation of moral emotional words in online discussions, especially within political contexts like climate change or gun control, has a notable effect on engagement levels.
- Messages containing moral emotional language can lead to a 10% to 15% increase in engagement, contributing to higher content virality.
- These messages tend to polarize audiences, resulting in individuals sharing content predominantly within their own ideological groups.
- The presence of moral emotional language signals partisanship and closed-mindedness, dissuading engagement from those outside the group.
Role of Negativity and Extremism in Online Engagement:
- Negativity, extremism, outgroup identification, and moral-emotional language are fundamental drivers of user engagement online.
- These elements play crucial roles in shaping online interactions and have evolved over time unintentionally rather than being inherently negative.
- Social media platforms inadvertently amplify extreme views due to algorithms designed for maximum user retention and interaction.
Status-driven Content Sharing Behavior:
- Individuals seeking social status are more inclined to share hostile content online as it aligns with their desire for recognition.
- People adjust their sharing behavior based on the incentives provided by the platform; altering these incentives can influence the type of content shared.
- Understanding how social status influences content sharing is essential for addressing polarization and fostering healthier online interactions.