What About the Cats?
Welcome
The sorry state of discourse on the Internet has many causes, and the experts have offered many solutions for the mess. One of the biggest problems is the way that social media platforms reward engagement.
Dear Reader,
The sorry state of discourse on the Internet has many causes, and the experts have offered many solutions for the mess. One of the biggest problems is the way that social media platforms reward engagement. You get shown different content depending on what you click on. For instance, you might click on an innocuous-looking link for a topic such as "vaccine side effects" and from there be shown slightly darker stuff until you descend down into a thought bubble that represents a different reality from what other users are seeing.
I know what you are thinking: Is it possible for the platform (and the user) to get better at spotting these innocuous links that act as a front door to the dark conspiracies that have entrapped so many users? My best response is "good luck with that one," or, to put it another way, what are you going to do about the cats?
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