Has the #pizzagate incident given us a terrifying glimpse of the future?
21 December 2016
Dr Aleksej Heinze
This year has offered some dramatic lessons in the power of social media. Twice, people have confounded predictions to vote for ideas which have targeted emotional responses.
Now we have President Donald Trump, and the UK Government scrambling to navigate a path out of the European Union.
As 2016 draws to a close, a shooting in Washington at a pizza restaurant – the so-called pizzagate incident – exposed just how dangerous and how effective those emotional appeals on social media can be.