Polarization and enmity in the algorithmic age. Striving for a digital ethos of relationality and pluralism

Abstract

This article examines how social media, far from merely connecting people, intensifies societal polarization and transforms relationships into adversarial divides. While platforms are often seen as tools for unity, their algorithmic prioritization of polarizing content fosters hostility and constructs unseen enemies. Drawing on the myth of the Biblical Tower of Babel and Carl Schmitt’s friend-enemy paradigm, this analysis examines how digital polarization intensifies hatred and stifles transformative imagination. Systemic outrage-driven content, especially, perpetuates harm against target groups with a disproportionate impact on women. In response, the article advocates relational respect, structural reforms, and regulation to cultivate inclusivity, dialogue, and pluralism. It reimagines the design of social media as a space for solidarity and shared humanity, resisting division through renewed frameworks of connection.