An analytical data audit of 100s of tracked social interactions mapping the predictable scripts of online deflections alongside the rare, hard-fought breakthroughs where true common ground was achieved.
The Mechanics of Online Discourse
Analyzing online discourse is a core driver of this site. I’ve become increasingly fascinated by the mechanics of how people communicate on the web - and how the same tribal reflexes we see in fierce political debates quietly bleed into seemingly benign topics like animal welfare.
How 1,000 pages of personal notes became a Rorschach test for American politics, and why the same documents simultaneously trigger absolute condemnation and defense.
A recent discussion I had with someone online about animal domestication where I was eventually asked to provide sources. That reply felt quite cramped for a comment section, so I decided to post it here to allow for easier reading and sharing of the sources.