People are easily radicalized, but social media expedites the process. It has to do with how we’re hardwired to deal with opinions we don’t like.

Let’s say your views of a game are on a 0-100 spectrum. A 0 means you despise the game and a 100 means you think it’s perfect. Let’s say you’re naturally sitting around 40, net negative with some nuanced criticism but a considerable bit of praise.

The way we work, if you’re exposed to someone with, let’s say, a 60 viewpoint, you’ll find yourself pretty similar and might actually leave the interaction somewhere around 45. If instead you are exposed to someone with a 100 viewpoint, you view them so far off that it further entrenches you into your position. You may leave that interaction with a 30 viewpoint.

Social media rapidly expedites these interactions and determinations, and people rapidly push to the extremes. We do it in “real life” too, just at a slower more refined pace.