Well, one thing social media didn't do is eliminate the self-absorption of the US universe. My (anecdotal) empirical observations and speculations about mechanisms that drive polarization have little to do with the US. The patterns we discuss are (alas) quite universal and other cultures are not at all immune to this.
Of-course if we zoom out to longer time scales polarization was rampant and lethal (across most of the world), in ways we thought or hoped we will never see again.
The tragic result of social media as they developed is that instead of helping fix known problems or help build consensus about handling emerging problems, they aggravate them, in ways that we only gradually start figuring out.
Of-course if we zoom out to longer time scales polarization was rampant and lethal (across most of the world), in ways we thought or hoped we will never see again.
The tragic result of social media as they developed is that instead of helping fix known problems or help build consensus about handling emerging problems, they aggravate them, in ways that we only gradually start figuring out.