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Juarez argues that the main factor behind digital disruption is disintermediation. Essentially, each of us now has our own media outlet. “This is what these platforms sold us: You choose what to be informed about and you stay inside a bubble. You look for information that confirms what you already knew or thought. If you think what happened in Venezuela was good, you will look for information that supports that, and vice versa. They create an environment where we only hear what we want to hear.”
According to Digital News Report 2025However, the migration to digital platforms – especially by younger generations – is becoming increasingly evident: 16% of those surveyed reported that they turn to TikTok frequently for news. WhatsApp reached 19 percent, Facebook 36 percent, and YouTube 30 percent.
Beyond the algorithm
Polarization doesn’t need a malicious algorithm to disrupt public conversation; It’s an inevitable consequence of the fundamental design of social platforms. By simulating environments that emphasize certain forms of communication and dialogue, a continuous loop emerges where emotional content is most evident and, ultimately, shapes the structure of the network itself. This is not about users actively seeking conflict or platform design with any malicious intent, but rather the result of a rewarding emotional response to thoughtful analysis.
For Peter Torenberg, who worked on the study, “This toxicity is an unintended consequence of the structure of posts and followers. The act of sharing content is often reckless and highly partisan; users react with anger or scandal, spreading a narrative that in turn shapes their own digital environment. This feedback loop between emotional action and network structure creates an ecosystem where toxicity becomes the organic norm. Ultimately, the mere presence of basic functions like forwarding and liking seems to be enough to generate this negativity, turning networks into echo chambers that feed on science.” Our interactive self.
“I believe that digital platforms can continue to be a space for resistance and solutions. But to avoid becoming echo chambers, there must be a real intention to engage in dialogue. This does not always happen when we are going through a very difficult time,” explains an anonymous Venezuelan source who spoke to WIRED. “When our emotional wounds overpower logic, it is very difficult to understand other people’s perspectives. For this to be possible, the wound must first be identified and understood, and sometimes we will not be able to find the balance necessary to enter into a dialogue. However, this dialogue must inevitably happen.”
This Venezuelan source explains: “We are now witnessing a great deal of polarization between Venezuelans inside and outside the country because of this event, which I personally consider to be a violent act of foreign intervention. I can understand the joy of those who celebrate the imprisonment of Nicolás Maduro as a moment of justice. But at the same time, I am against foreign intervention, against Donald Trump, against having our resources taken away from us.” “We did everything, we made every effort. We are in this situation because we are besieged and vulnerable to US imperialism, but also from Russia and China. Power has led us into this situation of extreme vulnerability. However, digital platforms can be spaces of resistance.”
too much information; Little attention
Because of information overload, our attention span, a finite resource, becomes stretched too thin, Juarez explains: “There comes a point where we stop and say: This is it, this is what I think.” We generally invest as little psychological energy as possible and use shortcuts to reach our conclusions: I’ve seen the video, I’ve seen the quote, I’ve seen the tweet, and that’s it; I have finished. We simplify because simplification is an antidote to saturation. When we are drowning in information, we feel confused and anxious. The level of this anxiety depends on our proximity to the event. That desire to embrace a particular point of view wins out when what we need to do is evaluate the many real implications of a situation.
“My main concern is that we have lost the ability to distinguish between what is false and what is real,” Juarez says. “We are willing to accept ready-made stories. If we lose this ability as citizens, we also lose our agency.” “What we are seeing in Venezuela is not the final episode in the story, but rather the beginning of a dynamic that will not stop here.”
This story originally appeared on WIRED in Spanish Translated from Spanish by John Newton.