How Facebook Divides Us
Link[PLACEHOLDER: Public writing on Facebook’s role in political polarization around Trump and Brexit.]
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Facebook's algorithmic filtering actively hides friends' views most likely to provoke disagreement, yielding "a doctored account of their personalities." This isn't a side effect but a design choice. The platform could use its knowledge of users to bridge divides, but instead optimizes for engagement by minimizing friction and systematically fragmenting shared reality.