False economy What’s in it for me? Understand what makes the

Argument 3: Social media can turn people 
into assholes.
Some say you should choose your romantic 
partner based on how you act when you’re with 
that person. Well, this nugget of wisdom isn’t 
only applicable to partnerships – it is also true of 
technology.
Social media can encourage asshole behavior. 
Insulting posts, condescending comments, 

---

trolling – they’re all very common on social 
media. Even back in the late 1970s, when social 
media was pretty primitive, the author noticed 
that he acted like more of an asshole when he 
used it.
Back then there were no algorithmically 
customized feeds, nor any up or down voting. 
And yet the author would find himself engaged in 
heated online fights over silly things, like who 
knew more about piano brands.
On social media, people often get caught up in 
the jostle for status and social recognition. This 
is where component A – Attention Acquisition 
leading to Asshole supremacy – of the 
BUMMER 
business 
model 
comes 
in. 
Unfortunately, the biggest assholes usually 
attract the most attention, which has a trickle-
down effect: more people are tempted to start 
acting more like assholes more of the time.
Why does this happen? The author’s personal 
hypothesis is that there’s a switch within us all, 
and it can be set to one of two modes: solitary or 
pack.
When in solitary mode, people, though more 
cautious, are freer and more creative. They also 
tend to be nicer, because they aren’t so 
preoccupied with where they fit within a social 
hierarchy.
People switch to pack mode in situations where 
concerns about social status trump all others.
For 
instance, 
consider 
the 
powerful 
businesspeople and politicians who deny the 
existence of climate change. They are entirely in 
pack mode. They’re so concerned with their own 
wealth and power – the things that give them 
social standing within their “pack” – that they 
think climate-change science is a sneaky plot 
designed to deprive them of these things.
Being on social media encourages us to remain 
in pack mode because all that matters there is 
social recognition and social status. This results 
in a society-wide, statistical shift toward more 
asshole-ish 
actions 
because, 
generally 
speaking, the more obnoxious and hateful a post 
is, the more attention it attracts.
There are alternative models! LinkedIn, for 
instance, does it differently. There, professional 
advancement trumps social posturing – and 
people on that platform tend to act less like 
assholes.