How Effective Is Online Outrage?
Year: 2018
Type: letter
Abstract: In today’s polarized political climate, it is important to consider how moral emotions like outrage can be harnessed for good. Spring et al. [ 1 Spring V. et al. The upside of outrage. Trends Cogn. Sci. 2018; 22: 1067-1069 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (32) Google Scholar ] thoughtfully examine the ‘upsides’ of moral outrage, suggesting it can create positive social consequences by catalyzing collective action. To illustrate this, they argue that sharing outrage on social media creates common knowledge and organizes collective behavior around important moral issues. We agree that moral outrage can have positive social consequences [ 2 Crockett M.J. Moral outrage in the digital age. Nat. Hum. Behav. 2017; 1: 769-771 Crossref PubMed Scopus (172) Google Scholar ], but suggest that online outrage has more downsides than upsides. In the context of social media, outrage may reduce the effectiveness of collective action and limit participation in the public square.
Source: Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Authors: William J. Brady, M.J. Crockett
Institution: Yale University
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: National Science Foundation
OpenAlex ID: W2905840940