Spiral of Silence
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From the Left
All of Your Facebook Friends Already Agree With YouHow do most of the people on your Twitter timeline feel about Ferguson? About foreign affairs? About the latest pop culture scandal? Except for that one weirdly conservative uncle or those random people to whom you never really spoke in high school, the answer is probably: a lot like you do. And if not, you aren’t going to tell them so.
A new study by the Pew Research Internet Project found that social media sites like Facebook and Twitter do not offer a platform for those hesitant to speak up...
From the Right
Social Media, Groupthink and the Spiral of SilenceEver wonder how social norms occur? Those that openly support the majority viewpoint on an issue are lauded so that behavior is reinforced. Dissenters, on the other hand, are denounced so they clam up for fear of being ostracized. This phenomenon is called the spiral of silence.
The spiral of silence theory is believed to be a function of evolution. Animals that are isolated from the herd don’t usually live very long. The same is true of humans. Safety in numbers is a core survival instinct reinforced by the brain’s...
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March 29th, 2024
March 29th, 2024