Trump’s efforts to mobilize GOP voters online may have actually helped the Democrats in the midterms. The internet and social media are a type of experience machine. At their worst, the internet and social media function as a self-reinforcing echo chamber and closed episteme in which many people confuse huge amounts of free and otherwise readily available “information” and “content” with true knowledge and hard-earned expertise. The Algorithm is designed to keep “users” “engaged” by amplifying negative emotions and feelings of conflict where individuals who are experiencing emotional and spiritual emptiness, loneliness and other unmet human needs are stimulated into an endless if not compulsive cycle of clicks, scrolling, posts, comments, “likes”, “shares” and other reactions. To that point, people who engage in “compulsive” internet use are more likely to exhibit the “Dark Triad” traits of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. In many ways, rage, anger and other negative emotions and behavior are the currency (and business model) of social media and the internet. A 2021 Pew Research survey showed that 31 percent of American adults report being “constantly” online.
via salon: New research shows that Donald Trump’s fascist attacks on democracy may have backfired