The Best Era to Hate

Written by Caroline Lee

Image source: Nighthawks Diner by Edward Hopper

Everyday, roughly 5.66 billion people scroll through the same social media platforms, watch the same viral videos, and share similar algorithms together. Social media helps bring people together across continents, allowing them to communicate and influence each other. Despite the connection, an overwhelming amount of conflict and hostility remains online. The apps on our phone are making it increasingly easier for hatred to be spread and absorbed through their speed, pressure, and illusion. What was designed to unify us has become the most powerful force driving division in the modern world. 

Algorithms are what help social media platforms to personalise your feed to something you like. It collects data on what you commented, liked, and shared to show you more media that is similar to it. While this may seem convenient, this essentially means that if you possess a certain idea – whether it is creative, personal, or political – it will show more videos repeating that idea. These “echo chambers” created by the algorithm stop people from being exposed to opposing ideas. Constant repetition gives the illusion that the viewpoint is widely accepted and unquestionably correct, eventually leading to people thinking more and more extremely. Extreme views can simplify complex realities, leaving no room for understanding or compromise. People could also start to view those with opposing ideas as enemies, amplifying the conflict and hatred towards one another. An online echo chamber mirrors a community in which everyone holds identical views, and through constant exposure and repetition, individuals are slowly persuaded to adopt the same ideas. In such an environment, division is inevitable. 

Personalised algorithms also mean personalised exposure to critical information. In the past, people watched the same news and read the same headlines, sharing a relatively common understanding of current events. However, today, many people rely on their For You pages to be notified about recent news. But these For You pages that differ completely from one another can blind people with one-sided knowledge. As a result, what appears urgent and undeniable in one person’s digital world may be completely absent in another’s. A political controversy, social movement or global crisis that dominates one's feed might barely show up anywhere. Gradually, society shifts from debating shared facts to arguing about entirely different realities. Instead of one narrative, there are countless customised versions of the truth. Social media fractures our shared sense of reality and creates conflict that can’t be understood.

Furthermore, the sweet promises of privacy protection online fuel more division in our society. Anonymity is easily achieved online. Behind a username and a screen, individuals can quite literally say anything: something one would never say out loud before. The absence of visible consequences weakens accountability, making hostility easier and empathy weaker. Not only insults and accusations, but also false information can be so easily posted. Even in disagreements, the circular profile picture seems to make a lot of people forget that there are real-life people on the other side of the screen, too.

More concerning, however, is not just the creation of hate, but its consumption. How often do users pause to verify something before reacting or sharing it? Before the invention of these technologies, news took time to spread, with more time to reflect and correct. Today, posts can go viral in seconds, and people react before understanding context. On social media, misinformation spreads quickly, and hatred spreads even faster. Users are more likely to comment, argue or share when they feel provoked and angered, which in turn pushes such content further through algorithmic promotion. As a result, platforms promote negative material because it produces more interaction and, ultimately, greater profit. In a system where speed is prioritised over accuracy and emotion over reason, hatred is not only repeated but incentivised.

To conclude, in a generation where communication is more advanced than ever, hatred has exponentially become easier to spread. Social media is deeply embedded in modern life, and for many of us, living without it will be almost impossible. Yet, its influence does not have to control us. While platforms may personalise our realities and strengthen negativity, individuals still hold the responsibility for how they respond. Being aware of how algorithms shape our feeds, staying informed, being alerted, and choosing empathy over hostility can slowly counteract the division in our society. Social media may be powerful, but so is human judgement.