Platforms Spawn 'Freak Show' Influencers

Algorithmic incentives that reward clicks, outrage, and short attention spans create a new species of influential social account: high‑reach, performative, low‑substance personalities that amplify noise and distort public debate. These accounts are not accidental outliers but predictable outcomes of metrics‑driven distribution systems. — If platforms systematically elevate performative accounts, public deliberation and political signaling will be increasingly mediated by spectacle rather than expertise, shifting what topics get framed and how policymakers respond.