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TWENTY-FIVE

THE OUTRAGE MACHINE

“Sometimes popularity is just a measure of how much people are not thinking.”

– Ayishat_Akanbi

There is an effect called the Paris Hilton Effect, which demonstrates why outrage builds popularity online. You have seen it – the accounts that post controversial material and loud opinions often blow up in analytic and metrics. Why? They promote outrage of support and non-support – but all of it is loud and filled with passion and, of course, impulsive! When people are enraged, they react – they do not think and cultivate a response, this creates a mass amount of attention growing simply due to other mass amounts of attention following that topic or person.

Social Media has become an outrage machine, constantly bombarding us with controversial content designed to capture our attention and evoke strong emotional reactions. This environment encourages impulsive behavior and quick responses, often without giving much thought to the consequences. Users are conditioned to seek validation through likes, shares, and views, which reinforces the cycle of impulsivity and shallow thinking. 

Why does Social Media want you to behave impulsively? It prompts impulsive sharing and impulsive reactions – and yes, it does get more likes. It also promotes more engagement, more time in the platform, and more opportunities to learn more about you. Here I leave you with this, mind your outrage.

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