Extremist movements can make people feel important, give them a sense of purpose, and give them a story that explains why everything seems so screwed up. They also give them a sense of community and support. Kruglanski says the more you feel embraced by a network of people, the more motivated you feel to embrace their story, even if it’s extreme. Often, he says, people don’t realize how extreme the group they’re joining is until they’re invested in it.
Berger says social media has fueled feelings of insecurity. He says this is partly due to the fact that ideas can now be spread far and wide almost instantly with little effort, which can be destabilizing.
“In the past, when the transfer of ideas was slower, the ideas had a chance to evolve as they were transferred. This would sometimes create a kind of moderating influence,” says Berger. “With social media, ideas move so fast that moderation is really out of the question. Even the most extreme ideas can spread very quickly.”
Social media has also made it easier for people to radicalize as they can easily find people who share their extreme views and are happy to invite them into a movement. Someone who wouldn’t have met people who share their views in the small town where they lived years ago can easily find a community online and radicalize further.
“Social media has revolutionized the way people communicate,” says Berger. “It has radically changed the kind of ideas people are exposed to.”
Research has shown that social media exacerbates political polarization, often pushes users to view more extreme content and helps extremists organize and coordinate their efforts. Social media also has positive effects in terms of helping activists organize and connecting people in a beneficial way, but the negative effects and uses are significant.
“The support of the network, the clandestine conspiracy stories combined with the sense of insecurity, the sense of lost meaning – these elements create a combustible mixture that can be ignited and lead to radicalization and radical action,” says Kruglanski.
So many people feel insecure and insignificant, and social media is flooded with disinformation and groups of extremists who will invite them into a movement. That’s part of it. The more obvious aspect of this, but an important one, is the role of political leaders in America and a Republican Party that has itself become more extreme.
“We have people who are the top leaders of a right-wing party who are really just willing to come out and express and endorse positions that are much more radical than what used to be the norm in American politics,” says Berger. “They are creating a permission structure for people to talk about racism and violence in a way that was previously outside the realm of bourgeois discourse.”
Thomas Zeitzoff, an associate professor at American University’s School of Public Affairs, says the Republican Party has embraced — and is now largely controlled by — extreme figures who would have been sidelined in the past.
