Jesse Ridgway Gets Seventeen Million Views Because Your Brain Is Wired for It
About this episode
The episode explores why people are drawn to outrage content on social media, using Jesse Ridgway's popularity as a case study.
Seventeen million views. People with real bills, real health problems, real crises in their own families stopped what they were doing to be outraged about a YouTuber they’ve never met. Not because Jesse Ridgway’s story is more important than their own lives. Because their brains are built to respond to outrage faster than reason. Research shows moral outrage triggers dopamine — the same reward pathway that makes drugs addictive. The platforms know it. The algorithms amplify it. And Jesse Ridgway has spent twenty years learning how to trigger it. Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott examines what’s actually happening in someone’s brain when they choose a stranger’s drama over their own real life, why the not-knowing — is it real or fake? — makes the content stickier than scripted fiction, and what daily consumption of rage bait, staged crises, and performed lives is doing to the developing brains of the teenagers watching it. If you’ve ever wondered why you can’t scroll past Jesse Ridgway even when you know you’re being played, this is why. Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video…
People in this episode
Host: Real Story Media
Guest: Shavaun Scott
Topics covered
- outrage
- YouTube
- psychology
- social media
- addiction
- teenagers
Keywords
- outrage
- dopamine
- YouTuber
- algorithms
- psychotherapy
- social media addiction
- teenagers
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