Has social media made the UK more right wing?

[SkyBlueFlux]

I think social media forces people to the extremes of their position through repeating confrontational content. Most folks in days gone by would have a pretty apathetic view towards most political issues but social media has done the job of hard-coding these until you’re in so deep it’s almost impossible to change your mind.

It basically turns people who would ordinarily have nuanced opinions into factionalised acolytes.

Unfortunately, being in the extreme right faction requires a lot less thinking and a lot more feeling (read Jonathan Haidt for an explanation on that) which social media is well tuned for.

Facebook, Twitter and Instagram whenever I visit them (which is rare as I don’t even have accounts for two of those) seem to be filled with right wing trash comments and posts. TikTok I honestly haven’t got a clue.

The closest thing to a left-wing social media echo chamber is probably Reddit. And that site is set up deliberately to be a very broad church so even there you’ll find exceptions, but the biggest communities are very left wing. Reddit probably lines up quite well with this forum, politically.

The antidote to this of course is to touch grass. Become the change you want to see in the world by speaking less to people’s posts and more to their faces whenever possible. I do worry where all this is headed but it feels only a matter of time until a counterculture emerges. Particularly with young people.

 

[cleavers]

I am quite new to facebook and its full of right wing stuff, i have been on twitter for years and that is a pit of hatred. Who needs the Daily Mail when you get hate for free on social media.

Am i wrong? whats your experiences?

I avoid most of it (social media), especially political stuff, but it just feels to me that the extremes are getting further apart sadly. I'm the thing formerly known as twitter, but I don't write anything on it, and mostly follow sport, mainly City related, and I avoid all newspapers, in print, or online.

 

[SebastianBlue]

I think social media forces people to the extremes of their position through repeating confrontational content. Most folks in days gone by would have a pretty apathetic view towards most political issues but social media has done the job of hard-coding these until you’re in so deep it’s almost impossible to change your mind.

It basically turns people who would ordinarily have nuanced opinions into factionalised acolytes.

Unfortunately, being in the extreme right faction requires a lot less thinking and a lot more feeling (read Jonathan Haidt for an explanation on that) which social media is well tuned for.

Facebook, Twitter and Instagram whenever I visit them (which is rare as I don’t even have accounts for two of those) seem to be filled with right wing trash comments and posts. TikTok I honestly haven’t got a clue.

The closest thing to a left-wing social media echo chamber is probably Reddit. And that site is set up deliberately to be a very broad church so even there you’ll find exceptions, but the biggest communities are very left wing. Reddit probably lines up quite well with this forum, politically.

The antidote to this of course is to touch grass. Become the change you want to see in the world by speaking less to people’s posts and more to their faces whenever possible. I do worry where all this is headed but it feels only a matter of time until a counterculture emerges. Particularly with young people.

Co-sign this post, as it saved me the trouble of writing my thoughts. :-)

I also recommend 'Intimate Communities of Hate: Why Social Media Fuels Far-Right Extremism' by Anton & Petter Törnberg.

 

[metalblue]

He 100% is more right than he lets on.

Bollocks, he’s in between ;)

 

[metalblue]

Call that a minority ... you want to try being in a gang of 4 ;-)

Left or right, you know a **** when you see one mate ;)

 

[blueinsa]

I actually think that social media targets everybody in a way that is far more inclusive than you think. Nothing sums it up more than the title of this thread because I know that Rascal sits on the far left. His views mean that quite literally anything will sit to the right of him so of course the perception will be that social media is dominated by the right.

The majority of this forum similarly sits on the left and sometimes far left so of course many people are going to be concerned on here about this 'rise' of the right. However, the reality is it couldn't be further from the truth, it's just that normal, common opinions appear to be on the right. I mean look at the polling for the next election, if we're all being influenced to the true right then how are Labour set to win a landslide election this year?

What many people on here hate is the fact that most average and relatively apolitical people do not sit on the left, instead they mostly sit in the centre and centrist votes are often not decided by ideological lines. The reason why there is concern over the picture painted to centrists above all else is because it is this group that will decide any election.

At the end of the day you cannot have a socialist utopia or a far right empire unless the centrists agree to it. This is why both the right and left hate the way in which social media operates, it's because social media generates profit from participation from all corners of the spectrum.

Spot on.

 

[SebastianBlue]

I actually think that social media targets everybody in a way that is far more inclusive than you think. Nothing sums it up more than the title of this thread because I know that Rascal sits on the far left. His views mean that quite literally anything will sit to the right of him so of course the perception will be that social media is dominated by the right.

The majority of this forum similarly sits on the left and sometimes far left so of course many people are going to be concerned on here about this 'rise' of the right. However, the reality is it couldn't be further from the truth, it's just that normal, common opinions appear to be on the right. I mean look at the polling for the next election, if we're all being influenced to the true right then how are Labour set to win a landslide election this year?

What many people on here hate is the fact that most average and relatively apolitical people do not sit on the left, instead they mostly sit in the centre and centrist votes are often not decided by ideological lines. The reason why there is concern over the picture painted to centrists above all else is because it is this group that will decide any election.

At the end of the day you cannot have a socialist utopia or a far right empire unless the centrists agree to it. This is why both the right and left hate the way in which social media operates, it's because social media generates profit from participation from all corners of the spectrum.

I definitely think you would be interested in
'Intimate Communities of Hate: Why Social Media Fuels Far-Right Extremism' by Anton & Petter Törnberg.

It takes a data-driven approach via computational text analysis and makes the case that Durkheim’s Concept of Rituals (heavily based in emotional engagement and shared attention) is a better framework for understanding impacts of social media on individual ideology and behaviour, which lends itself more to far-right radicalisation and organisation (itself more heavily based in emotional engagement and ritual).

 

[Postman Pep]

Left or right, you know a **** when you see one mate ;)

 

[Don Karleone]

Maybe! Who knows :) My perception is I'll be voting Labour this year and since Corbyn was booted out Labour often get bad press on here for some reason...

Someone who leans to the right is happy voting Labour this time around.


Huge if true.

 

[Damocles]

Social media isn't evil. You're evil.

Social media isn't biased. You're biased.

Within tolerable margins of error, social media algorithms are completely politically neutral. They are programmed to show you one thing, and that is what you personally engage with more. Not the whole world, just you. If you engage with inflammatory posts more then the algorithm believes you want more of this content and will test it by putting it on your timeline/FYP/etc. If you ignore it then it doesn't.

Moreover, social media is a public square. It is your job to moderate your reading and not a Government or a company. You might create an echo chamber or a flame tower but whichever one you create is very much your own doing.