More communication - less unity: why social media is increasing polarisation

According to a new study by scientists at Complexity Science Hub Vienna, the expansion of close contacts may be a factor in the rise of ideological "bubbles" and a decline in social tolerance.

According to Complexity Science Hub Vienna, the scientists asked themselves why social polarisation has been growing rapidly in many countries over the past 15 years To answer this question, they compared data on people's political views with their social ties - and found an unexpected correlation.

According to sociological data, until the late 2000s, the average number of close friends a person had was about two. Since 2008, however, this figure has risen sharply to four or five. At the same time, according to more than 27,000 Pew Research Center surveys, there was a surge in ideological polarisation: more people began to hold exclusively liberal or conservative views, avoiding positions in between.

For example, while in 1999 only 14% of those surveyed expressed consistently liberal views, by 2017 that share had risen to 31%. Similarly, the number of consistently conservative respondents rose from 6% to 16%.

The scientists developed a mathematical model to explain this phenomenon. In their opinion, an increase in the density of social ties leads to a kind of "phase transition" - a point after which the level of division in society increases sharply. This resembles physical processes: just as water suddenly turns to ice at a certain temperature, so social systems can abruptly move from stability to fragmentation.

As the number of close ties grows, dense clusters form, where similar views become stronger. At the same time, there are fewer and fewer "bridges" between such groups, and contact between them is more often hostile. Researchers call this phenomenon social fragmentation.

The most dramatic changes occurred in the period 2008-2010, when mass digitalisation of communication began: smartphones appeared, Facebook became publicly available, and people began to form new connections more actively. Paradoxically, it was this increased contact that the researchers believe may have led to increased isolation between groups.

"Democracy requires communication between different parts of society. When groups stop talking to each other, the political system starts to break down," emphasises Stefan Turner, one of the authors of the study.

He also makes an interesting observation: if a person has only two friends, he tries to keep in touch with them and shows tolerance. But if there are five friends, it becomes easier to "let go" someone with whom there is a conflict - thereby reducing the overall level of social tolerance.

The authors emphasise that the key factor in the sustainability of democratic societies is tolerance to other people's opinions, which should be formed from childhood. The ability to interact with people who think differently is not only a social skill, but also a defence against the fragmentation of society in the age of digital connections.