Dr Jarrod Sansom doesn't spend a lot of time on social media, in part because of a PhD he's recently completed dedicated to researching its divisive impact on modern society.
In his research he asked "How does Facebook use cultivate perceptions of 'us-against-them' among social groups who think differently about climate change?" Sansom has also studied "us against them" attitudes between social groups who think differently about Muslims.
His decision to research the topic started with a friend and a book.
"I stumbled onto a book because there was someone who was very viral online, and I watched a video. I decided to read this book. And then I told my friend that I was reading it, and this friend actually removed me from their life. Because I was reading this book," he says. "It wasn't because I was all of a sudden a devout follower, because I believed every word that this author was saying, but I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. That might have subconsciously sparked me to want to do a research project on us-against-them."
On Wednesday, July 31, Samson will sit down alongside Newcastle Herald Editor Lisa Allan and artist Kassy King (who has an interesting personal experience with social media) on a panel facilitated by myself and philosopher Tim Cox. Together we will discuss and examine social media, tribalism, truth and trauma. Cox, philosopher Dr Joe Mintoff and I began our Common Ground initiative earlier this year, dedicated to having productive conversations around conflicting and controversial views.
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Sansom is increasingly concerned about the state of division in today's society, and our ability to think critically, in a technological and social-media-driven-world. He sees an overabundance of information, and it's not always clear what information is accurate or reliable.
"People fall into conspiracy theories or people believe things wholeheartedly, and they can't have conversations with people who think otherwise," Sansom says.
He interviewed people in Facebook groups who were pro and anti-Muslim immigration in Australia.
"I actually only wanted to talk to them about their Facebook use and their perceptions of Muslims. But all they wanted to do is criticise people, or actually more than criticise, probably be quite hostile towards people who thought differently to them about the topic," he says.
He collected data on how often they use social media. The heavier users were the more hostile ones and exhibited 'us against them' attitudes, more so. The ones who used social media less didn't really have the same attitudes. Sansom then was offered a research scholarship from the Australian government to continue the research. That's when he began his PhD in the climate change debate in Australia.
Sansom told me about the "Spiral of Silence Theory" which was developed in the 1960s by German researcher Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann. It's the theory that people's willingness to express their opinions on controversial public issues is affected by their largely unconscious perception of those opinions as being either popular or unpopular. He witnessed this in his research, where his data showed that in these opinionated and politically-charged Facebook groups where people discussed climate change, group members were only exposed to like-minded individuals and no critical viewpoints. Members would over exaggerate and inflate how many people agree with them.
This could explain why some conspiracy theories take hold, because in their social media echo chambers, they are only exposed to people who agree. People think they have all this power behind their views.
"It's quite concerning," Sansom says.
Samson's found that through heavy Facebook use, differing viewpoints transform into something more dire and more concerning to society: us-against-them attitudes that are characterised by hostility and anger. They tend to provoke proselytisation.
He's excited to discuss these findings this coming Wednesday, while also discussing King and Allan's knowledge and experiences with social media as well.
He points out that sociologists say humankind can't progress on massive issues like climate change without different people with different views coming to the table, listening, compromising and collaborating.
"They can't just be resolved by one country going 'oh, we know what we want, so we will just do it our way.' There needs to be a global effort," he says. "How do we expect for this to happen if in our main source of communication, which is social media, we're all divided?"
