The Great Discourse Sundering of 2023

And can we create something new from the ashes?

I have a hard time writing definitively. As my newsletter suggests, I find joy in the fact that all of us see the world differently, which makes nuance an important part of trying to build relationships or explore ideas.

Sure, I’ve feigned decisiveness for a tweet or two. I may have even said something about Shohei Ohtani being the undisputed king of baseball, but that is not the norm. For the most part, I hate picking a side and much prefer proposing an idea as a way to have an open discussion with people. In our digital world of algorithmic boosting and virality, those discussions are rare.

But here’s the dirty secret. I’m not the only one that is seeing a lack of useful discourse. Twitter replies are down across the board, or outright eliminated. People don’t have back-and-forth conversations as much, and if they do, it’s likely hostile, snarky or perhaps even designed for maximum drama. The company’s new ownership seems to prefer this outcome.

X was once an ideal news platform because stories unfolded there much faster than mainstream media, while often including a more diverse stream of independent and citizen journalism. The veracity of that content could then be disseminated in the replies. Now it is now a complete mess. For a story like the Hamas-Israel conflict, where traditional sources are often misleading, Twitter is still seeing high amounts of traffic. But people tuning into this event have many problems to reckon with, including:

• Bots are able to manipulate what’s trending by creating a volume of tweets outlining one side of a story or the other

• Verification only costs a few dollars a month, so the blue check is easily available to online trolls and journalists alike

• Replies are algorithmic, and weighted toward verified accounts that are not really verified by anyone

• The owner of Twitter has shown us the downsides of having too open a mind, as he continually spirals into more conspiratorial and anti-establishment content, amplifying it as he goes

This is no longer sustainable. The optimism of the Arab Spring feels like a lifetime ago. Governments have caught up to social media’s power and have the resources and incentives to manipulate online speech. They have done so. As do lobbyists, hedge fund managers and politicians. Does anyone else see the problem yet? No matter the issue, there is an immense amount of misinformation, disinformation, trolls and bad actors to muddy research and discourse. It almost makes me yearn for the time when the government had control over a majority of our media. Almost.

Journalists, elites and millions of people around the world still use X or consume content downstream of it, but they are operating in quicksand. The more that they shout and struggle, the more they add to the problem. Even if they are good-faith operators, their words are often twisted by others or attacked outright. We are losing the ability to better understand others and be understood, at least in a digital format.

The Great Sundering—Or Why We Can’t Change Our Minds

Our online experience is more customized to appeal to us than ever before. This is a new human invention that can’t be understated. Rather than read what everyone else is reading, we are all in a feedback loop with ourselves, with tech giants reaping the power and revenue that comes with that. There are no incentives for them to ask users to regularly explore alternative ideas and question their own opinions. Especially when they use the app more if they are shown what they want to see.

Because our online selves are being trained by our base instincts, our beliefs are being increasingly shaped by base instincts rather than external factors. This extends to the real world as many in-person conversations are downstream of online content. Even if you happen to have a pleasant conversation in a Home Depot with a fair and charming political adversary, you are just a few weeks of algorithmic reeducation away from thinking that person you talked to last month might have been a fascist or a communist.

Social media platforms have enough data on us to know the sources we trust and the voices we hate, so we are not likely to access the new information we need to explore new perspectives. instead, you will only be presented with strawmen arguments from caricatures of the other side. The conflict in Israel and Palestine illustrates this painfully. YouTubers have made their SEO-optimized explainer videos. Armchair geopolitical experts of all ideologies have weighed in. So have thousands of bots and government-backed institutions. All of this is designed to make you think a certain way, or appeal to your pre-existing bias. Good luck logging on and figuring out what to think with any sense of certainty.

In a world where we are all being influenced based on our own preferences, this has also killed our ability to have an insightful conversation with a well-intentioned stranger that thinks differently from you. The few times I’ve tried it, everyone I encounter is in a “fight or flight” state, conditioned to the conflict that Twitter is famous for.

So, this whole situation sucks, but it is also hopefully temporary. The problem is that we haven’t created anything new yet. There are X rivals, sure. But the power is in the network, and there is not another network trusted by as many disparate groups as this one. Even the attacks on Elon Musk since his purchase have been unsuccessful at getting people to a new platform.

Traditionally, humans have invented new technology to paint over the mistakes of our previous inventions. It will eventually happen here, but it may be a painful way down for existing platforms and social norms. I simply can’t see how we move toward peace in the middle east given the current state of our online discourse, but I hope I am proven wrong.

Lastly, I think we should recognize that we are all watching these terrifying geopolitical events unfold. I grieve for the families and friends of those involved and I am desperately trying to understand the nuances at play. However, I am finding it harder than ever to avoid malevolent and false information. As you look into these issues, please recognize appeals to hate, fear and other emotions that often lead humans into making terrible choices.

Remember this motto. If we can fix our content diet, we can fix the world.