Exposure to different views doesn't make people more moderate

To test this possibility, Bail set up a clever experiment. He recruited more than 1,500 Twitter users and had them follow accounts that exposed them to opposing viewpoints. For a month they saw messages and information from elected officials, organizations, and opinion leaders from the other side. A liberal might see tweets from Fox News or Donald Trump. A conservative might see posts from Hillary Clinton or Planned Parenthood.

It was a digital version of reaching across the aisle. A simple intervention that could have big effects for social policy.

Then, at the end of the month, Bail and his team measured users’ attitudes. How they felt about various political and social issues. Things like whether government regulation is beneficial, whether homosexuality should be accepted by society, and whether the best way to ensure peace is through military strength.

It was a huge undertaking. Years of preparation and thousands of hours of work. The hope was that, as thousands of pundits, columnists, and other talking heads have argued, connecting with the other side would bring people closer together. But that’s not what happened. Exposure to the other side didn’t make people more moderate.

More than 1,500 people were shown political posts from the opposing side for a month. Their views did not become more moderate; in each camp, attitudes moved further towards the existing side.

Exposure alone can sharpen opposition because the incoming argument carries the other tribe’s signal. People rehearse rebuttals, protect identity and finish with a more sophisticated explanation of why those people are dangerous idiots. The experiment makes a cherished liberal fantasy look flimsy: more information does not naturally pull reasonable minds towards a sensible middle. Information has a messenger, setting and social meaning. A hostile post viewed in public demands allegiance before thought. A private exchange with trust and questions creates a different psychological job.

Commercial persuasion makes the same mistake at lower temperature. The sales team responds with a longer comparison sheet. A sceptical buyer receives fresh claims to distrust. An external recommendation lands with no account of how it was reached, so the existing camp digs deeper. If another exposure only gives people material for a more fluent rebuttal, the amount of information has increased while the distance between them has not. The buyer now has three more claims marked for rebuttal and no more reason to trust the sender.