Animosity drives engagement

It’s sad but it’s true, and most of you have seen it on social media. The more animosity behind a post, the more engagement it gets. Specifically, if you directly attack an opposing political group, your post is much more likely to be shared.

From a recent tweet by Jay Van Bavel:

“Slamming a political out-group member increased the odds of a social media post being shared by 67%!”

There are probably a variety of factors at play here, including social media algorithms, but it really comes down to psychology. If you see someone attack a group that you also dislike, you’ll react strongly to that post and you’re much more likely to share it.

It got me thinking about a seemingly angry friend of mine on Facebook. You probably have some similar “friends” on there too. He’s a very nice guy in person, but over the last few months he’s become more and more divisive online. I thought I’d take a look and really see if that’s what he’s doing, or if it’s just what happens to pop up in my feed. Of his last 50 Facebook posts:

• 25 were direct attacks on the the government, Democrats, or just “idiots” in general.
• 12 more were specific attacks on Joe Biden and his policies.
• 4 were positive posts about his family and community.