Social Media Is Driving Us Apart

Time: “Our current crisis of division, once again manifest as violence, feels shocking but not sudden; the dread has been deepening for years, a defining quality of this century that began with an election that ended in a tie. As our information streams fill with acid, it eats at grace and trust. Americans have always disagreed, exercised muscles of reason and passion to press for progress and a vision for the common good that we don’t necessarily hold in common…”

“Figuring that out was the heart of the democratic challenge, but the information technologies allegedly designed to connect the world conspire to dismantle the values that process depends on. The tragedy, but maybe also the opportunity, of this moment is that relative to past brawls, Americans are largely united on key issues—even if you would never know it from the temperature of the debate.”