Source: Marginal REVOLUTION
As social platforms mature and audiences fragment into micro-communities, creators are discovering that consistent niceness doesn't drive engagement or algorithmic visibility—provocative differentiation does. The economic incentive is structural: being "another positive voice" has negligible marginal value, so creators compete through novelty, criticism, and conflict instead. Positive sentiment is measurably eroding across platforms, which makes it harder for consumers to distinguish authentic optimism from calculated brand positioning.