Regularly engaging in outrage on social media writes outrage into our lives. Who we are online is who we are.
At this point, it surprises nobody to know that social media is built to drive engagement. And the thing that gets the most engagement is outrage.
We get clicks when we create outrage. And we are most likely to engage when we are outraged.
Most of us have a love/hate relationship with all of it. Some of us would totally leave it if we felt like we could.
I find that the less I engage social media, the better I feel. Interestingly, the same can be said with consuming news online or on TV.
It seems that right now, if any of us wants to be mad, we know how to make that happen.
But it also shouldn’t be so difficult to do the opposite.
Abstaining from the outrage machine makes us less outraged. I’m talking about reversing the outrage toward joy.
- By transforming the machine.
- Or building a different machine.
Either seems possible. And ultimately something will change.
I for one would like to help it along.