Social media platforms market themselves as bringing people together, yet research increasingly reveals they may be driving people apart. The irony of connection technologies undermining social cohesion deserves examination, particularly as evidence accumulates that business models based on engagement systematically reward division over unity.
Over 1,000 X users during the 2024 presidential election experienced feeds manipulated to show more or less divisive content. Those exposed to more such content became measurably more divided from political opponents, demonstrating that platforms actively reduce rather than enhance genuine social connection when algorithms optimize for engagement metrics.
True social connection requires mutual respect, shared understanding, and recognition of common humanity despite differences. But algorithmic amplification of divisive content systematically undermines these foundations by promoting content that emphasizes conflicts, attacks opponents, and frames political differences as existential threats rather than legitimate disagreements.
The business model creates perverse incentives where connection technologies profit from disconnection. Platforms make money from engagement, divisive content generates engagement, therefore platforms profit from division. This fundamental misalignment between marketed purpose and actual function represents a form of institutional deception that erodes trust alongside cohesion.
Realigning incentives to serve genuine connection might require entirely different business models. Platforms could optimize for measures of social cohesion rather than raw engagement. They could reward constructive dialogue over inflammatory conflict. They could prioritize quality relationships over maximum network size. Whether such alternatives can achieve commercial viability remains uncertain, but continuing current approaches appears increasingly untenable as evidence of cohesion destruction accumulates.
