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How We Broke Democracy
Article

How We Broke Democracy

Our Technology Has Changed This Election, And Is Now Undermining Our Ability to Empathize with Each Other

Medium, 2016

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áudio gerado automaticamente

Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative

Recommendation

Recent political earthquakes like the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump to the US presidency reveal painful divides in democratic societies. How did this happen? Human-empathy researcher Tobias Rose-Stockwell outlines how current news consumption patterns amplify and exacerbate divisions in society. He examines how social media tools can help promote consensus and empathy instead. getAbstract recommends this essay to all citizens concerned about the state of political discourse and seeking practical ways to help improve it.

Take-Aways

  • The Internet changes the way people consume information, enabling a proliferation of news sources that often ignore traditional journalistic standards.
  • The multiplication of news of every ideological stripe makes it easier for people to seek out information and online communities that confirm their biases.
  • These new information consumption patterns deepen political polarization and make people less empathetic toward those with opposing viewpoints.

About the Author

Tobias Rose-Stockwell is a designer, writer and entrepreneur. He is currently writing about the nature of empathy in technology.