When the Political Gets Digital: Navigating Change in a Polarized World

As digital technologies continue to advance in our lives, the author raises questions about the challenges and vulnerabilities that we might face in our future social and political interactions and decision making. The article explores the impact of digital technology on political life focusing on the politics of perception control, the creation of echo chamber bubbles, and the dangers of fragmentation and polarization. The presidential election in Romania offers an opportunity to look at the impact of the digital on the political in the context of the resurgence of an autocratic nationalistic narrative with a fascist flavor. The author explores the cognitive and emotional vulnerabilities we might encounter in an emergent digital world with a focus on social cognition.