Hamish Macdonald

I think there are just versions of this story playing out all over the world in large and small scale.

And it does go to identity.

It goes to emotion.

People are picking tribes.

You know, a bushfire happens and you either believe that it's climate change or you believe it's arson.

and you jump on social media and you make your arguments one way or the other, you cannot engage with someone that has a different view.

You insult them, you belittle them, you refuse to see any nuance.

If someone injects nuance into the conversation, they're accused of whataboutism.

You ask a question that's the wrong tone or the wrong note and someone says, well, you're supporting genocide by asking that question.

Totally.

And this is deliberate.

This is the way the social media platforms are built.

That's the way the algorithm drives content.

The things that people react to are the things that bubble up the algorithm.

And so people end up in these tribes and

You know, it's very complicated for people that might take a position on one issue that fits them into a particular tribe, but then on another issue they choose something which doesn't fit with that tribe and suddenly the cohort over there is saying, well, you're not one of us.

Oh, it turns out you're a transphobe or you're a genocide supporter or, you know, you can see this happening everywhere and it's largely driven by emotion.

There are often layers of facts.

There are bits of facts built into these arguments, but often it's fact laid with emotion and opinion.

And that becomes very difficult and overwhelming for people, I think.