Quote Originally Posted by Niya View Post
It may surprise you to know that you are every bit as incomprehensible to me as I am to you. What is happening here is a microcosm of what is happening in the US and across much of the first world. There was a time when we were more united by what we shared in common than we were divided by our differences. Somewhere along the line these differences became dogmatic and tolerance for these differences dwindled drastically. We are no longer willing to listen to each other and this is a very sad state of affairs and I don't know what the solution is. So I guess each side will have to duel it out until one or the other wins. History will decide which of us is right.
That's a good point. I feel that way, too. I have some theories as to why it is, and you might say it all comes down to social media, but perhaps not in the typical way.

We've always had differences between one another. Even if we generally agreed, we disagreed on some points, or to some degree on points that we mostly agree on. We always had ways to paper over that. We do it through talking in person, which involves a whole lot of non-verbal communication. The disagreements were still there, we just worked around them.

I don't think that happens on social media. It's not just that the non-verbal communication isn't possible, it also that it isn't necessary. Who is your audience? One person? A crowd? Supporters? Opponents? Almost regardless of which of those you choose (you can choose more than one), aside from talking to just one person, then there is no need or value in papering over anything. Heck, it isn't even necessary to be particularly precise about what you are saying. It's too easy to say something that is, 'close enough' to what you actually mean, and just post it.

That makes social media more likely to divide. The societal glue (or perhaps grease, since it reduces friction) of communication is stripped away by social media. We speak both poorly and hastily.