Provocative By Design: How Social Media Triggers Emotional Discourse

Political discourse on social media is based on emotion instead of reason. Typically, people discuss political topics through a series of opinions, reactions, and personal attacks. This study concludes that the current emotional default of political discourse on social media is a consequence of social media's design. Through an analysis of social media's limited "affordances" or possibilities of interaction, and case studies of their unintentional privileging of provocative content's dissemination, it becomes clear why political discourse on social media is emotionally charged. The outcome of social media's emotionally based design is a less logical political discourse and a more emotional one. These findings can aid future study of technology and social media's effects on public discourse.