Reflexivity in the Age of Instagram

The feedback loop we are all caught in

You open your phone. You head to Instagram’s Explore page. And all you see... is dogs. Dogs food, dogs houses or dogs looking to be adopted . It’s a full-blown dog multiverse, and honestly? You’re not mad. You like dogs.

Instagram’s algorithm, like all social media algorithms, seems to be an emotionally needy butler. You gave it one signal (“I like dogs”), and now it’s trying to prove it by shoveling more of what you already like onto your screen.

That’s the beauty and danger of it: It shows you more of what you interact with. Its like confirmation bias on steroids. You like something, so you get more of it.

But now imagine that thing wasn’t a dog. Imagine it was information about an ongoing conflict. A conspiracy theory. A riot. Maybe your political views lean far left or far right, and so your feed quietly starts reinforcing that version of the world. You open the comments, and it’s more of the same. People who think like you, sound like you, and get annoyed like you.

Studies have shown that we’re naturally drawn to negative stimuli more than positive ones. It’s called negativity bias. It once helped our ancestors avoid snakes, and poisoned berries even if it meant ignoring the occasional beautiful sunset. But in 2025? It mostly helps us stay glued to our screens, doom scrolling through conflict, collapse, and chaos.

The scary part is realizing that Instagram may no longer be simply reflecting a version of reality. It may be helping rewrite it.

Because when billions of people are fed emotionally charged, fear-driven, or one-sided narratives, they might start reacting as if those narratives are true, those reactions begin to bleed into the real world. And suddenly, it’s not just that we think the world is falling apart. We start acting like it is. And in doing so, we help make it true.

This is the idea at the heart of reflexivity, a concept from finance famously described by George Soros. The theory suggests that markets don’t just respond to reality, they influence it too. It’s like a bank run. A few people are worried about a bank, and pull their money out. Others see that happen and panic. Suddenly, everyone wants out, and the bank collapses. Not because it was doomed, but because people believed it was.

Now take that same two way feedback loop and apply it to public trust, political division, misinformation, and to democracy itself. Our perception, shaped by emotion, repetition, and algorithmic reinforcement, begins to drive our behavior. And behavior, at scale, reshapes the world itself.

So what are some potential consequences?

• Shrinking Common Ground
  As feeds reinforce our pre-existing views, we lose shared reference points. Conversations turn into “us vs. them” standoffs rather than genuine dialogue. This pushes us further toward ideological extremes and makes compromise feel like betrayal. Complex issues get flattened into sound-bites or memes.

• Misinformation all around
  Sensational or emotionally charged claims, true or not, get amplified. Rumors spread faster than corrections, and half-baked stories become accepted “fact” in echo chambers.

• Decline in Trust
  When every newsfeed feels manipulated, we start distrusting not just platforms but each other. Skepticism of “the other side” bleeds into real-world relationships, workplaces, and communities.

• Compassion Fatigue
  Constant exposure to crisis and conflict can desensitize us. We either tune out entirely or become overwhelmed, neither of which leads to constructive action.

Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t some attempt to hate on social media or declare that the world is falling apart. I’m not a doomsayer. Far from it.

In fact, I fall more into the Steven Pinker or Matt Ridley school of thought. The kind that reminds us that, despite everything, we’re living in an age of extraordinary progress. For most of human history, even getting hot water on demand was a luxury. Today, that’s a button. Child mortality is down. Lifespans are up. Access to knowledge has never been easier. We are very very lucky.

And social media has played its part in some of that. It’s connected people. It’s empowered voices that were once silenced. It’s raised awareness, sparked movements, and created opportunities that didn’t exist before.

But that is exactly why this conversation matters. Because something that powerful, something that impacts how billions of people see the world, deserves careful attention. Because if we do not recognize how easily perception can impact reality, we risk letting our fears write the future.

Thanks for reading.