Startle a goat and it goes rigid, falls over, and plays dead.

Startle a cat and it will either run away at mach 4 or arch its back, with hairs on end, and create a sound that tells everyone in the vicinity their eyeballs are about to be removed. The difference generally comes down to the personality of the cat.

Startle a human and they will either look at you like you’re and idiot, jump screaming in an epileptic spasm and throw the contents of their hands high up into the air, or snap into a martial art ready posture. The difference between the first two is personality, but the third is training.

These same concepts apply socially. When surprised in a social situation a person will either shrink and quietly run away, go wide eyed and make a fool of themselves trying to sound intelligent, or paste on a fake smile and engage in standard platitudes until their senses return to normal. The first two are a function of personality, and the third is training.

Social media is still relatively new, but it has these same issues in its own unique ways. If there has to be an algorithm, it should be designed to reward the well trained… (In terms of sound social structure, not propaganda and narrative control.)