August 1, 2019: News and political junkies rely heavily on Twitter, but just 2.2% of Americans generate 80% of all tweets.[1]
Arthur Brooks cites reliance upon such unrepresentative sources of information as one reason people have dangerous misunderstandings about political opponents.
“Today, more than 90 percent of both Republicans and Democrats describe people in their own party as ‘honest,’ ‘reasonable’ and ‘caring.’ Meanwhile, more than 80 percent in each party describe the other side as ‘brainwashed’ and ‘hateful.’”
Brooks, the recently retired president of the American Enterprise Institute, sees this as a recipe for “national decline.” And the problem begins with confusing the Twitter universe with reality.
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