Social media has become an obsession, and the global screen time of individuals is effortlessly growing each year. You hardly have any choice but to categorise content or manage your reels or short videos in this modern era of digital marketing. Business, politics, marketing, awareness, creativity, entertainment, and all other staff are present on social public platforms. In modern society, according to Google research, the Gen-Z population spends around 6 hours each day on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Millennials are not far behind; 90% of millennials use social media platforms every day.
We are living through a perfect storm where the machinery of technology, the psychology of loneliness, and the fragility of the global economy are converging to pull us apart.
From Disagreement to Dislike
Previously, the political ideas reformed around the newspaper, journal, or television news, which helped the audience by providing a neutral ground to think and make decisions. But now, with the exponential usage of social media, anyone can post and comment their opinion on social platforms. We at the receiver’s end have no filtration to escape from this chaos but to consume more because of our detachment from society. This often abolishes the term disagreement and people either liking or disliking any concept or activity. Political scientists have phrased this as affective polarisation. The political organisations use this concept and often spread hate speeches to influence their followers, which is again dividing society and diminishing the tolerance level. Nations or regions with a lower literacy rate are the major sufferers.
In contrast, ideological polarisation focuses on the debate and arguments rather than emotional aversion like affective polarisation. It is the tendency to see the opponents as a guilty party, not as fellow citizens who also have a different opinion. The shifting twist leads to the social identity where we take an interest in our tribe and where we are involved in fierce rivalry with the other tribe.
The Invisible Hand of the Algorithm
Multiple forces in social life showcase significance towards digital platforms. Social media can be affiliated with a diverse margin of social connections, although the rationale behind it has given it priority of concern. Algorithms are designed in such a way that they affect the most engagement, and no one is more successful in catching eye-catching attention than outrage.
The study signifies that the enmity grounded in politics is not created by the design of the algorithms, but it is generated by them. After the aspects of emotionally-charged and animosity-driven information are enhanced by the platform, the users begin to see the other party as being even further on the extremes. This exposure through sampling creates a distorted reality in the long run, in which war is a continuous and unavoidable occurrence.
Hostility could be reduced to the bare minimum even when carried out by making minor adjustments in the order of the ranking of the contents. In this regard, negative feelings of the users towards political adversaries are weakened in those situations when the antagonistic material is down-ranked.
Loneliness as a Political Force
Loneliness has crept in to be a greater political factor in modern society. As the traditional modes of interpersonal connection, such as neighbourhoods, community formations, and civic establishments, fail, a number of the population feel the growing social separation.
This division contributes to vulnerability to political work, which ensures the fitting in and guidelines. Political movements, particularly those on the basis of strong group affinities, offer a strong sense of connection and certainty in the uncertain world.
The emotional validation, along with that fundamental sense of direction they provide to the outsiders who feel rejected by their movements, is a source of purpose and direction. Through this, loneliness is not a personal issue anymore but a social issue that can further separate politics and strengthen us vs. them attitudes.
A Fractured Social Contract
The social contract that was assured to be stable and progressive now even seems to be much weaker. The rising inequality, work unpredictability, and financial setback have destabilised institutional confidence in societies. It might appear to most that hard work would no longer guarantee a form of security, but this way makes the system appear as non-distorted or non-verbatim.
It is the momentum of fading trust and crumbly expectations that compel people to barricade themselves in solidifying identities in protection of themselves, which only leads to even more dire social and political divisiveness.
Rediscovering a Shared Reality
Modern fragmentation is quite harsh; society is physically attributed to divide as much as it appears to be. Much of our visualisation of conflict is expanded by internet resources, expressive narrative, and slanted access to indignation. In their day-to-day activities, communities survive by cooperating, sharing similar standards, and relying on each other.
Establishment of mutual reality, it is imperative to note that technology, lack of responsibility, and fear render the images of other individuals bizarre. The engagement beyond the realm of the cyber environment and a renewed good relationship with others, individuals will be in a position to counter artificial boundaries.
