Beyond the Commons: Issue 4

POLITICS Are you with us?

Opinion: Discuss Politics, and Keep the Courtesy By: Sabrina Moyes Today, politics saturates social media. Observing this sudden transformation has left many of us wondering what exactly social media is doing to the way that we affect the political system and moreover affect each other.

The platform of social media apps like Twitter tend to polarize political views. Katy Steinmetz contends in her article, “Popularity on Social Media? Not cool,” that “tweets containing strong moral and emotional language,” or moral outrage, “are about 20% more likely to get retweeted.” The effect of this desperate need to manipulate social media for attention in our political discussions is part of a larger wave of polarized thinking. More neutral political accounts that don’t really call for that same level of moral outrage are left in the dust with minimal following, which means the far left and far right are left to scream over each other, despite the fact that many Americans belong to neither group. It is no wonder people have lost their cool in political discussion, especially on these social platforms.

In essence, the middle ground has disappeared into thin air. The everyday political conversation has lost its civility. We dare not tread even the slight edges of controversial debate out of fear of upset. It is time to change; let’s bring civility back.

The significance of political civility cannot be further stressed. Political discussion is a part of free speech, typified as one of the backbones of American democracy. How can Americans develop their own opinions if not given the option to hear out both sides? How can one become educated if