DeepSummary
In this episode, Derek Thompson interviews Jay Van Bavel, a psychology and neuroscience professor at New York University, about his research on how the internet and social media amplify negativity, extremism, and tribalism. Van Bavel explains that people are hardwired to pay more attention to negative and threatening information, which gets exploited by algorithms that prioritize engagement.
The episode discusses four key rules or principles that drive engagement on social media: negativity, extremism, outgroup animosity, and moral-emotional language. Van Bavel's research shows that posts containing these elements are more likely to be shared and go viral, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of polarization and false perceptions about the views of others.
While acknowledging the downsides of group psychology amplified by social media, Van Bavel also highlights its importance in human evolution and cooperation. He suggests that the solution lies not in avoiding group dynamics altogether but in creating healthier incentives and moderation systems that foster more nuanced and accurate information sharing.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Negativity, extremism, outgroup animosity, and moral-emotional language are key drivers of engagement and virality on social media platforms.
- These dynamics exploit innate psychological biases towards paying more attention to negative, threatening, or emotionally-charged information.
- Social media algorithms optimize for engagement, inadvertently amplifying extreme, divisive, and false perceptions about group differences.
- While rooted in evolutionary group psychology, these effects can distort reality and fuel polarization when taken to extremes online.
- Creating healthier online spaces requires rethinking incentive structures and implementing moderation systems that promote more nuanced, truthful, and unifying content.
- Group psychology dynamics have positive aspects related to human cooperation and should not be wholly avoided, but rather channeled in more constructive directions.
- Users should be mindful of how social media platforms filter information and shape perceptions, and seek out more balanced perspectives beyond algorithmic echo chambers.
- There are potential upsides to social media in spreading information and facilitating collective action, but optimizing for healthy engagement remains an ongoing challenge.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “It's just because you're not getting full feedback, you're only getting the like button. There's no dislike button on most of these platforms, and so you're deluding yourself about.“ by Jay Van Bavel
- “What we found is when people shared a story that shared something really negative about the other party, that's what got engagement.“ by Jay Van Bavel
- “So imagine Trump sharing a news story that made Joe Biden look really bad, or Joe Biden sharing a news story about something that made Trump look really bad. Those are the things that are going to drive by far the most engagement for them.“ by Jay Van Bavel
- “And so you have to understand that if people who are looking for status are dropped into a system where status and followers and likes and all these things are conferred to people who share this type of content, they're going to figure that out and share more of it.“ by Jay Van Bavel
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Episode Information
Plain English with Derek Thompson
The Ringer
4/9/24
Jay Van Bavel is a professor of psychology and neural science at New York University. His lab has published papers on how the internet became a fun-house mirror of extreme political opinions, why the news media has a strong negativity bias, why certain emotions go viral online, why tribalism is inflamed by online activity, and how the internet can make us seem like the worst versions of ourselves. At the same time, Van Bavel emphasizes that many of the group psychology dynamics that can make social media seem like a dumpster fire are also core to what makes humankind such a special and ingenious species. We discuss the four dark laws of online engagement and the basics of group psychology.
If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com.
Host: Derek Thompson
Guest: Jay Van Bavel
Producer: Devon Baroldi
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