> And the danger is that it can polarise populations creating potentially harmful divisions in society.
I think we already see the effect of this. It gets harder for opposing sides to find common ground - from local to government level. People get more prone to critical commentary, claiming "hurt feelings" at first opportunity. Even here on HN a constructive debate is uncommon.
There are many that see this as a feature, not a bug.
The divisions already exist, someone is just exploiting and amplifying them. What's 'common ground' has radically shifted - so what you think is common really isn't so much.
I think we already see the effect of this. It gets harder for opposing sides to find common ground - from local to government level. People get more prone to critical commentary, claiming "hurt feelings" at first opportunity. Even here on HN a constructive debate is uncommon.