{
  "id": 19347625,
  "title": "The Trolls’ Comeuppance",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/10/the-trolls-comeuppance",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-11-10T15:02:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Atlantic",
    "slug": "the-atlantic",
    "url": "https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/11/attention-economy-republicans-failure/689347/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Trolls’ Comeuppance\n\nIn recent years, the internet has seen an increase in outrageous and controversial takes being posted online, leading to a phenomenon known as \"take inflation.\" This trend has the potential to skew political perceptions, creating a false sense of consensus around ideas that may not be popular in reality. In 2019, Democrats were struggling with the effects of take inflation, with certain left-wing ideas popular online, like decriminalizing border crossings, proving to be fringe offline. As a result, a few years later, politicians on the right were the ones finding their perceptions skewed by what drew approval on social media and sought to tailor their personas to appeal to that audience.\n\nElon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, renamed X, transformed the platform into one that spreads racist and misogynist ideas, such as the \"Great Replacement\" theory and the disenfranchisement of women. This shift reversed the dynamic that Jonathan Chait had identified in 2019: right-wing ownership of the platform was now allowing Trump allies to control what Americans saw and heard, potentially shaping their understanding of reality. However, conservatives ended up being trapped in this \"algorithmic cage\" themselves.\n\nThe Twitter takeover went wrong for conservatives in two ways. Firstly, they posted increasingly toxic content in an attempt to drive engagement. Secondly, they were unaware of how unpopular their toxic content had become, mistaking engagement for approval. Political influencers and parties' incentives can align, but the former seeks engagement while the latter pursues votes, and these interests can diverge, leaving politicians chasing engagement without realizing they are shedding voters.\n\nA prime example of this phenomenon occurred in Texas, where Republican nominee Bo French accused South Asian students cheering at a football game of \"American displacement by foreigners.\" Despite garnering significant attention and virality, few of his colleagues spoke out against it during a campaign season marked by accusations of wanting to impose \"Sharia law.\" Similarly, Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy's ad accusing his Democratic opponent of lying about being abused as a child by her stepfather backfired, as contemporaneous documentation refuted the allegations and the ad made Ramaswamy look despicable to most Ohio voters.\n\nTrolling for attention may seem like a winning strategy, but it often backfires. Chris Hayes argues that social media exploits our desire for attention and recognition, monetizing it in the process. While Donald Trump has successfully exploited this dynamic, other imitators have not fared as well. In Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy's controversial ad proved to be a costly mistake, as voters rejected his candidacy in favor of more moderate candidates.\n\nIn Texas, the consequences of extreme partisan rancor were even more severe. The \"big three\" positions of speaker of the House, lieutenant governor, and governor were all won by women for the first time in history. This shift, following three decades of Republican dominance, could not have been foreseen by those who spent all their time on X, believing that Americans were clamoring for ethnic cleansing and the repeal of the Nineteenth Amendment.",
  "summary": "How the attention economy turned on Republicans",
  "key_points": [
    "Twitter takeover by Elon Musk led to spread of racist and misogynist ideas.",
    "Conservatives trapped in algorithmic cage, unaware of unpopularity of toxic content.",
    "Extreme partisan rancor on X led to Republican candidates' electoral defeats."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}