Unlike traditional ads that directly create insecurity to sell a product, platforms like X are designed to facilitate user-on-user shaming. This addictive, conflict-driven engagement is the core product, which the platforms then monetize through targeted ads from traditional 'shame profiteers'.

The perception of rising crime in London is amplified by a financial incentive. X's platform pays contributors for engagement, leading to a surge in disingenuous accounts posting exaggerated or false crime content for profit.

Algorithms optimize for engagement, and outrage is highly engaging. This creates a vicious cycle where users are fed increasingly polarizing content, which makes them angrier and more engaged, further solidifying their radical views and deepening societal divides.

Social media's business model thrives on creating an "enemy within" narrative. By constantly teaching users to fear their neighbors with different political views, these platforms generate immense engagement and profit. This manufactured internal conflict is more potent and profitable than focusing on external threats.

A/B testing on platforms like YouTube reveals a clear trend: the more incendiary and negative the language in titles and headlines, the more clicks they generate. This profit incentive drives the proliferation of outrage-based content, with inflammatory headlines reportedly up 140%.

The addictiveness of social media stems from algorithms that strategically mix positive content, like cute animal videos, with enraging content. This emotional whiplash keeps users glued to their phones, as outrage is a powerful driver of engagement that platforms deliberately exploit to keep users scrolling.

Social media algorithms reward content that triggers high-arousal emotions like anger, fear, and awe, as these lead to engagement. Contentment, a low-arousal state, doesn't prompt users to click or share, so it is systematically de-prioritized, favoring rage bait.

Societal polarization is not just ideological but algorithmic. Social media platforms are financially incentivized to amplify divisive content because "enragement equals engagement," which drives ad revenue. This creates a distorted, more hostile view of reality than what exists offline.

A huge portion of the market, dominated by social media and AI companies, connects shareholder value directly to enragement and isolation. Algorithms are designed to sequester users and serve them content that confirms biases or angers them, keeping them engaged.