Since the early 2000s, social media has become so much a part of our lives that most of us, especially the youth, can’t imagine living without it. Why do we love social media? Among other things, it provides us a venue, a means, to share ideas, thoughts, interests, and opinions that we have in common with other people. And we can divide like-minded people into two – those who agree with us and those who don’t.
Thus, there are two kinds of “feeds” or content that we receive on our computers or smartphones. However, because of the so-called “confirmation bias” and algorithms, social media platforms make sure we get more of one side of every story. Even those who think they have balanced views are naturally drawn to a particular content online. Gradually, what seems to be a harmless choice of content develops into a polarized environment where the most emotionally charged opinions can sway one to have the same way of thinking.
