The Algorithm Isn’t Here to Enlighten You - It’s Here to Radicalise You
And no, that’s not being dramatic.
That’s being digitally awake.
You’ve heard it a million times:
“Oh, the algorithm just shows me what I want to see.”
Yeah… nah.
The algorithm isn’t your digital bestie.
It’s not trying to make you smarter, calmer, more grounded or nuanced.
It’s trying to pull you.
To the edge.
Any edge.
Left, right, paleo, polyamorous, productivity-hacked or full-blown tinfoil hat -
It doesn’t care.
It just wants you out of balance.
Because the middle?
The middle is boring.
Nuance doesn’t sell.
No one’s making merch that says
“I see your point and I also disagree.”
The more extreme you become, the more content you consume.
The more ads you see.
The more you're worth.
Because it’s easier to sell you things when you belong to a group.
It’s easier to control you when you’ve sworn allegiance to one side.
And the more entrenched you are, the less you question, the more you click.
You’re saying outrage?
Outrage is sticky.
Tribalism? Monetisable.
Echo chambers? Profitable.
And that’s the game.
The algorithm’s job isn’t to inform -it’s to inflame.
To keep you scrolling.
To get you fired up.
To sell you stuff while your nervous system is on fire.
Source: GQ
And yes, it’s working.
Here’s how:
• You click on a natural remedy -next stop? “Big Pharma is killing you.”
• You care about justice -now your feed says curiosity equals betrayal.
• You follow a parenting account -and suddenly you’re one skipped nap away from being a monster.
Source: ScienceDirect, arXiv, UCL
It’s not truth.
It’s traction.
It’s dopamine, baby -and the house always wins.
And just so we’re clear:
Nearly 90% of extremist online activity now happens via social platforms (SAGE Journals, Henry Jackson Society).
This isn’t about what you believe -
It’s about how easily you’re led.
Because the more extreme you become, the easier you are to predict.
And when you’ve got no nuance, you’ve got no space for real thinking.
Source: Wikipedia
But the middle?
The middle is where actual humans live.
Where nervous systems regulate.
Where we can say:
“Hmm… maybe it’s a bit of both.”
That’s not weak.
That’s wisdom.
That’s what LiVELY is here for.
To help you build the muscle of nuance again.
To bring you back to the boring-but-beautiful middle.
To give you tools to pause the scroll, clear your head, and re-centre your nervous system.
Because balance -in 2025 -is nothing short of a rebellion.
We need to stop asking what side we’re on -and start asking who benefits from us never leaving that side.
LiVELY is about that moment of choice.
That breath between reaction and reason.
That “actually, I want to think for myself” energy.
We’re not here to push you off the edge.
We’re here to help you step back from it.
Because that?
That’s freedom.
That’s power.
That’s where we become unshakeable.
TL;DR:
The algorithm isn’t here to enlighten you -it’s here to radicalise you.
LiVELY helps you come back to your centre.
Because in a world that profits off outrage, calm is a revolution.
