Trapped in Twitter Amber
There are a couple other relevant issues worth pointing out about the return to interpersonal communication: firstly, unlike historical norms where people knew each other, all communication online is ipso facto between pseudonymous people. Even if someone gives their government identity, the actual interaction is not personal, but media through a screen and software. This makes everything slightly unreal.
Secondly, the return to interpersonal communications with the emphasis on self selecting tribal identities via ideology (e.g. interests, work, etc.) These tribal groups are like villages of old, everyone knows everyone else. There aren’t many secrets inside these groups. But their lack of integration and contact with the outside world means that extremist ideologies can be accepted norms. A group might become ardent ISIS supports by gradual drift, just as many young men are becoming white supremacists through joining groups that funnel them into more and more extreme groups until they are full blown holocaust denying nazis.
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