Beyond the algorithm, online negativity takes on a life of its own as users try to stand out‎

It doesn't take a scientist to figure out that social media can trend toward the negative. But it might take one to figure out why. In a new paper in PNAS, professor of psychology Joshua Conrad Jackson and colleagues show that algorithms aren't the only driver of online negativity. Another culprit is what psychologists call differentiation, the innate drive to stand out from one's peers.