Should We Blame Social Media for Society’s Divisions?
Readers respond to stories in our May 2022 issue.
After Babel
In May, Jonathan Haidt wrote about how social media dissolved the mortar of society.
For the past several years I’ve racked my brain trying to pinpoint exactly what has brought our country to the brink of civil war, knowing the causes were many, multilayered, and complicated. Jonathan Haidt’s thoughtful step-by-step summation of the “who, what, when, where, why” has given my taxed brain some level of peace and understanding.
Patti Kapp
St. Joseph, Mich.
Mr. Haidt’s conclusion is too alarmist. The republic has survived much greater stresses than social media, such as the Civil War, the Great Depression, and the Vietnam War, and it will continue on its bumpy way into the 22nd century.
Great cacophony is the
