Algorithms

Why anger is the secret to social media growth

Ever wonder why Silicon Valley hasn’t fixed toxic online behavior? Because from a balance-sheet perspective: psychopathy drives engagement, and engagement drives revenue. A landmark NYU study on moral contagion revealed that adding just one moral-emotional word to a post increases its virality and retweet rate by roughly 20%. Social media algorithms aren’t optimized for joy, empathy, or nuanced contemplation. They are tuned for moral outrage, schadenfreude, and tribal hostility. When platforms select purely for attention, they create an artificial breeding ground for high-conflict personalities, pathological narcissists weaponizing outrage, and digital sadists masquerading as moral crusaders. Question for you: Have you noticed your feed pushing you toward anger instead of empathy lately? Drop your experience in the comments.