Definitely agree that there's a negativity bias to media virality. But that negativity bias doesn't mean that only negative things go viral (I'm thinking about the current thing going around showing a monkey seeking comfort in a stuffed animal monkey), it's just that it's harder or less likely for a positive thing to go viral than a similarly negative thing.
So my question is how do we reduce toxic virality while still promoting positive virality? Or do we have to reduce it all, knowing that some positive things won't get shared as much?
Great point, Christian! Strong positive emotions can go viral, and the effect of negativity bias is not too strong that we can’t overcome it if we change the incentives or algorithms. We find that people actually wish more positive and uplifting content would go viral on social media and that would be easy for social media algorithms to amplify if they really wanted.
This helps separate what feels new from what’s actually enduring. The throughline from gossip and outrage in small societies to algorithmic amplification online makes it clear that technology accelerates tendencies that were already there, rather than inventing them.
Definitely agree that there's a negativity bias to media virality. But that negativity bias doesn't mean that only negative things go viral (I'm thinking about the current thing going around showing a monkey seeking comfort in a stuffed animal monkey), it's just that it's harder or less likely for a positive thing to go viral than a similarly negative thing.
So my question is how do we reduce toxic virality while still promoting positive virality? Or do we have to reduce it all, knowing that some positive things won't get shared as much?
Great point, Christian! Strong positive emotions can go viral, and the effect of negativity bias is not too strong that we can’t overcome it if we change the incentives or algorithms. We find that people actually wish more positive and uplifting content would go viral on social media and that would be easy for social media algorithms to amplify if they really wanted.
This helps separate what feels new from what’s actually enduring. The throughline from gossip and outrage in small societies to algorithmic amplification online makes it clear that technology accelerates tendencies that were already there, rather than inventing them.
100% agree