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https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:750/format:webp/1*_a5rnFFxKAifXTWmuF63ZQ.jpeg 750w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:786/format:webp/1*_a5rnFFxKAifXTWmuF63ZQ.jpeg 786w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:828/format:webp/1*_a5rnFFxKAifXTWmuF63ZQ.jpeg 828w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1100/format:webp/1*_a5rnFFxKAifXTWmuF63ZQ.jpeg 1100w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/format:webp/1*_a5rnFFxKAifXTWmuF63ZQ.jpeg 1400w" sizes="(min-resolution: 4dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 4) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (min-resolution: 3dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 67vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3) and (max-width: 700px) 65vw, (min-resolution: 2.5dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2.5) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (min-resolution: 2dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" type="image/webp"/><source data-testid="og" srcSet="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:640/1*_a5rnFFxKAifXTWmuF63ZQ.jpeg 640w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:720/1*_a5rnFFxKAifXTWmuF63ZQ.jpeg 720w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:750/1*_a5rnFFxKAifXTWmuF63ZQ.jpeg 750w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:786/1*_a5rnFFxKAifXTWmuF63ZQ.jpeg 786w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:828/1*_a5rnFFxKAifXTWmuF63ZQ.jpeg 828w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1100/1*_a5rnFFxKAifXTWmuF63ZQ.jpeg 1100w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/1*_a5rnFFxKAifXTWmuF63ZQ.jpeg 1400w" sizes="(min-resolution: 4dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 4) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (min-resolution: 3dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 67vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3) and (max-width: 700px) 65vw, (min-resolution: 2.5dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2.5) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (min-resolution: 2dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px"/><img alt="" class="bh mq nw c" width="700" height="455" loading="eager" role="presentation"/></picture></div></div><figcaption class="nx ff ny nj nk nz oa bf b bg z du">Members of the Missouri Student Association registering students to vote, Columbia, Mo., on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012, National Voter Registration Day (KOMU News)</figcaption></figure><p id="716d" class="pw-post-body-paragraph ob oc gz od b ht oe of og hw oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow gs bk">Jonathan Haidt, the New York University social psychologist and author of the bestselling book <em class="ox">The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion</em>, has been on a tear for a while about the negative effects of online social media. Three years ago in The Atlantic, he and co-author Tobias Rose-Stockwell <a class="af oy" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/12/social-media-democracy/600763/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">wrote an essay</a> arguing that the public discourse was getting more coarse and less civil because of how social media “turns so much communication into a public performance.” Being outrageous, which might make a person tiresome in a private setting, gets rewarded in the online arena. Instead of dialogue, we get grandstanding. And so social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, attuned to foster continuous engagement, foment more division as they go about attracting and holding their users’ attention. Haidt and Rose-Stockwell had a point, though it was hardly an original one. But they also seemed incline to exaggerate the effect that social media was having on our society, writing, “This, we believe, is why many Americans — and citizens of many other countries, too — experience democracy as a place where everything is going haywire.”</p></div></div></div></div></section></div></div></article></div><div class="l"></div><footer class="oz pa pb pc pd ab q pe ix c"><div class="l ae"><div class="ab cb"><div class="ci bh fz ga gb gc"><div class="ab cp pf"><div class="ab q lj"><div class="pg l"><span class="l ph pi pj e d"><div class="ab q lj lk"><div class="pw-multi-vote-icon fj js ll lm ln"><span><a class="af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at" data-testid="footerClapButton" 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href="/dianne-feinstein-and-other-senators-like-her-need-to-retire-5021193272e7?source=post_page---post_publication_info--9595e16c82d1---------------------------------------">Last published <span>Apr 19, 2022</span></a></div></div><div class="rc l"><p class="bf b bg z bk"><span class="gs">A former publication from Medium about politics, power, and culture. 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Publisher of The Connector newsletter (<a class="af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar oy gt" href="http://theconnector.substack.com" rel="noopener ugc nofollow">theconnector.substack.com</a>)</p></div></div></div><div class="h k"><div class="ab"><span><button class="bf b bg z rd re rf rg rh ri rj ev ew rk rl rm fa fb fc fd bm fe ff">Follow</button></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="ro rp rq rr rs l"><div class="rt bh r pn"></div><div class="ab cb"><div class="ci bh fz ga gb gc"><div class="ab q cp"><h2 class="bf qo ru hv rv rw hy rx ry rz sa sb sc sd se sf sg bk">Responses (9)</h2><div class="ab sh"><div><div class="bm" aria-hidden="false"><a class="si sj" href="https://policy.medium.com/medium-rules-30e5502c4eb4?source=post_page---post_responses--9595e16c82d1---------------------------------------" rel="noopener follow" target="_blank"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="25" height="25" viewBox="0 0 25 25"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M11.987 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