# Social Media is Bad for Democracy and Should Be Regulated ![[Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid#^7lwsoh]] [[Social Media Diminished Social Capital]] [[Social Media Weakened Institutions]] [[Social Media Undermined Collective Identity]] [[Social Media Caused Extreme Polarization in Society and Cancel Culture|By amplifying polarization and extreme view points]], social media has promoted the 'us-versus-them' mentality, where every election becomes a question of life-or-death leading to increased violence. People shy away from discussing politics, and don't consider viewpoints of the other side, because they perceive 'them' as unpatriotic, immoral, and dangerous. ![[Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid#^hkmian]] [[Social Media Gave Birth to Fake News|By allowing fake news to flourish]], even those political discussions that do happen are riddled with disagreements about basic facts, leading to erosion of trust in old-school media and other institutions (particularly if they're controlled by 'them'). [[Social Media Caused the Rise of Populism|The entire environment has caused the rise of populism]], taking us further away from reasoned discourse. ![[Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid#^bahanq]] ![[Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid#^zy6ykf]] In order for democracy to survive, social media must be regulated to eliminate its [[Social Media Platforms Are Echo Chambers by Design|tendencies to create echo chambers]], and [[Civic Education is Essential for a Functioning Democracy|media literacy raised]] to make people more resistant to [[Fake News]]. ![[Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid#^a20m29]] Luckily, there seems to be growing awareness of the problem: ![[Big Tech Is Failing. The Future of Democracy Depends on What Happens Next#^z9q7hy]] ![[Big Tech Is Failing. The Future of Democracy Depends on What Happens Next#^t6mt6e]] ![[Big Tech Is Failing. The Future of Democracy Depends on What Happens Next#^5acnyn]] ![[Big Tech Is Failing. The Future of Democracy Depends on What Happens Next#^h0m5sc]]