Facebook Is Not Your Friend — How Friction Gets Rewarded

I want to pull the curtain back a bit on why some posts spiral, even when they weren’t intended to. Facebook does not optimize for truth, accuracy, or productive conversation.

It optimizes for engagement — specifically the kind that keeps people on the platform longer. And the fastest way to do that is friction.

Here’s how it works in practice: When a post starts getting: rapid comments replies to replies emotional reactions (positive or negative)

the algorithm flags it as “high interest.” At that point, Facebook doesn’t ask why people are reacting.

It doesn’t care if the discussion is thoughtful, factual, or completely off the rails.

It just sees: “People are interacting. Show this to more people.” So the system: resurfaces the post in more feeds sends more notifications pulls in people who missed the original context attracts late arrivals who are already emotionally primed

By the time those people show up, the conversation has usually shifted from discussion to performance.

That’s why: calm, factual posts often go nowhere emotional disagreements explode the worst comments tend to come later, not earlier It’s not because most people are unreasonable.

It’s because the platform rewards reaction, not resolution. This is also why comment sections can degrade quickly even when a post starts in good faith. The system is actively amplifying the most reactive behavior, not the most constructive voices.

And once that cycle starts, the only way to stop it is to remove the fuel — which usually means closing comments.

That’s not about silencing people or “picking a side.” It’s about refusing to let the algorithm continue escalating something that was never meant to be a fight.

None of this is accidental. This is how the platform is designed.

So when something suddenly feels bigger, louder, or more hostile than it should — that’s not always a reflection of the community. It’s often just the machine doing exactly what it was built to do.

Just some transparency on how friction gets rewarded here.