Psychology of Media & Technology

Troll and harassment on social media can be very hurtful but it's inaccurate to say that female musicians are more vulnerable to anxiety if they receive many more threats of physical assault and rude remarks about how they look than male musicians. Show me parity in the harassment and then we can talk about differences in response.

All people instinctively seek certainty and stability to offset the fear of chaos and change. This increases tribalism and ‘othering,’ as people seek to make their worlds feel more stable and controllable. Media provides a means of identifying tribes and groups and these tendencies have deep evolutionary roots. The problem won’t be trolls and general troublemakers – these have always been a minority. The problem is the tendency of the cacophony of negative media voices to increase the social schisms contributing to the rising anger over a world undergoing massive shifts.

This article about Kane's somewhat ham-handed observation raises serious questions as to whether social media helps or hinders diversity of opinion.  Free speech is constrained when people attack rather than try to understand and influence.