Yes, to some degree, it could also just be the usual toxicity that people explore when they get their first taste of anonymity on the internet. I like to hope that people eventually mature and grow out of it, but the younger you are, the less time you’ve had to work out those dark indulgences.
I don’t see that kind of talk being representative of real world interaction and whenever that happens it’s a useful reminder that some of what we see on the internet is kind of a glitch, like an artifact of an attempt at simulated communication that ended up failing because of broken mechanisms in the human component failing to translate real interaction into the virtual space.
Like the whole woke-war that bad actors are trying to drum up to increase cultural divide…the internet spotlights only the worst stories and segregated social groups know nothing about the out-groups except these rage-bait stories.
How is emotional stickiness measured? I feel like the article is hitting on something I’ve noticed about reddit ever since July 1st, but it’s hard for me to explain or support this subconscious observation that the quality content has slowed dramatically.
Reposting had always been a thing but it feels like the ratio of reposts to quality has increased, and the scroll of new posts on the front page or /r/all has slowed considerably. I have no way to back that up other than subjective experience though.