The One-Room Phenomenon, also related to the ‘Echo Chamber’ is described well here by Paul Rosenberg.
What researchers discovered about twenty years ago was that putting people of the same opinion into a single room had a striking effect: The opinion in the room moved, inevitably, to the extreme. And this effect was the same no matter what the original opinion may have been.
So, then:
- If you put a bunch of right-wingers in a room, the shared opinion in the room will become stridently right-wing.
- If you put a bunch of left-wingers in a room, the shared opinion in the room will become stridently left-wing.
- If you put a bunch of save-the-planet advocates in a room, their opinion will become all the more adamantly save-the-planet.
- If you put in a bunch of the-planet-is-just-fine advocates, their opinion will become all the more adamantly the-planet-is-just-fine.
This happens because of human insecurity and status-seeking: Anyone taking a contrary opinion (advocating “right-wing” economics in the left-wing room, for example) is instantly branded as a traitor and suffers heavy shaming within the group.
Gaining social status in the closed room, however, is simple and obvious: You just adopt a stronger, more polarized, version of the original opinion.
Because of this, the opinion in a closed group becomes more and more severe. That is, it becomes increasingly polarized.
Being polarized makes people cold and cruel. Anyone who’s on the other side of what their group thinks is not just wrong, but evil. And whoever fails to agree with them is their opponent… an object of disgust.
Thoughtful, observant and intelligent people are noticing that social media makes humans hateful, as well as lonely, insecure and miserable. I hope that knowledge spreads. I further hope that people will realize the past ten years of their life have been polluted by social media.
No, there’s nothing wrong with talking to friends and sharing ideas, but Facebook and other social media companies have weaponized this. They are intentionally abusing human instincts.
So, don’t get angry and hateful in response; just stop rewarding them. People who addict and polarize you are precisely the wrong ones to empower.
Social media is a polarization machine. Separating from it would be a very good idea.
Paul Rosenberg
In my experience working with a wide variety of clients in my Psychotherapy practice, I agree that social media can have a very detrimental effect. Not just on young people (where it truly is a problem), but also for adults who get caught up in the ‘Echo Chamber’ or ‘One-Room Phenomenon’ which can brew anger, hate and discontent, as well as the stress over ‘likes’ and the number of ‘followers’ one has, comparisons to others, and seeming visions of everyone else living a ‘perfect life’ through their posts.
You are not your pain, you are not your thoughts, you are not your experience, you are not your social media profile! Learn how to transform negative feelings back to unbroken wholeness and uncover your innate clarity of mind. Emily is a psychotherapist who works with clients to discover their own evolution in consciousness through the lens of therapy. Online or in person in Glenwood Springs, CO. Schedule a session. Affordable, efficient, effective therapy.
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