viral self-isolation

Modern media's wide range of options has (ironically) opened the door to a new form of manipulation, by exploitation of our neolithically-evolved reward-systems like e.g. the joy of criticizing others. The result is that big money can predictably put anyone out of business who doesn't pander to it, by mounting a media-campaign which directs those addicted to the spectacle of bad-mouthing toward the target of the day.

This self-isolated population, moreover, might be particularly difficult to reach except by information that is delivered in a package which likewise exploits that addiction. Looks like we've discovered yet another means by which humans can (by just following their natural instincts) inadvertently guide a social-system toward collapse.