I had the same thought as you, but there are perhaps other factors which could contribute to this too.
We see the chart and assume the shift is due to more negative bias in how people respond, but it could also be due to a change in how people post.
For one, the demographics of reddit would have slowly changed over time, from largely a bunch of nerds in 2010 when reddit was niche, to a more general cross-section of society as reddit became closer to mainstream social media.
This (among other factors) may have brought with it a shift in motivations from people genuinely seeking advice (and therefore posting truthful stories) to people seeking validation and a cathartic dose of upvotes (and therefore posting highly biased stories which favour themselves, and paint their partner in a terrible light)
Now, I don’t think that explains all of it. I do feel on a purely personal and qualitative basis that the Internet in general has certainly become more toxic over the past decade, and that people are more angry and hostile now. But I don’t think it’s necessarily a single-factor cause.
I had the same thought as you, but there are perhaps other factors which could contribute to this too.
We see the chart and assume the shift is due to more negative bias in how people respond, but it could also be due to a change in how people post.
For one, the demographics of reddit would have slowly changed over time, from largely a bunch of nerds in 2010 when reddit was niche, to a more general cross-section of society as reddit became closer to mainstream social media.
This (among other factors) may have brought with it a shift in motivations from people genuinely seeking advice (and therefore posting truthful stories) to people seeking validation and a cathartic dose of upvotes (and therefore posting highly biased stories which favour themselves, and paint their partner in a terrible light)
Now, I don’t think that explains all of it. I do feel on a purely personal and qualitative basis that the Internet in general has certainly become more toxic over the past decade, and that people are more angry and hostile now. But I don’t think it’s necessarily a single-factor cause.