SA-7: Internet Trolls and the Quest for the Inner Ring

Breaking The Digital Spell

Episode manuscript: https://digitalbabylon.substack.com/p/internet-trolls-and-the-quest-for
The amplification of extremists and the muting of moderates. When it comes to social media's impact on American politics (and many other subjects), Chris Bail argues the two biggest effects of the social media prism feed into each other, making political extremists embolden and empowered to troll anyone they can and for moderates to give up hope that nuanced political dialogue and opinions are possible anymore. What drives Internet trolls to be trolls? What gives moderates the impression that discussing controversial topics online is so risky despite being the largest voting bloc in the country? What if both Internet trolls and the average American use social media in completely different ways because they're both looking for the same thing - and what if a Christian writer named C.S. Lewis had something to say about all this more than 80 years ago?

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