Tonality as Currency

On social media, what matters is not what you say, but in what mode you say it. The tone is the message. The attitude is the content.

This episode examines the dominance of outrage, irony, and hypermorality. Three tonalities dominate discourse:

Outrage: "This is unbelievable!" "How can this be?" The permanent excitement that turns everything into scandal.

Irony: "LOL." "That's so 2024." The distance that rises above everything but says nothing.

Hypermorality: "This is problematic." "One shouldn't..." The raised finger demanding purity that no one can achieve.

We analyze how these tonalities are used as social signals to mark belonging. "I'm outraged like you." "I'm ironic like you." "I'm moral like you." It's not about content. It's about tribal identity.

Conversation becomes performance. Arguments become costumes. We no longer discuss – we stage.

The mindshift: We must separate tonality from content and learn to stay matter-of-fact where the system demands excitement.

This is unfashionable. It doesn't get likes. But it's the only way to genuine exchange.