It's sad that your "tinfoil hat theory" is... probably not wrong. This is pretty aligned with what these social media giants have been getting caught doing for ages now.

It might not even be "muah hah hah" (although it probably is). It could just be that those things are engagement bait that the spreadsheet/algorithm likes so it keeps pushing it harder.

We definitely need to side-eye all these manufactured conflicts as you say. It's really irritating how, once the upper classes start feeling the pressure, suddenly everybody is dividing themselves into hair-color tribes, generations, gender factions, tax brackets, whatever.

The bait keeps the heat off where the heat is needed most! The ones doing this to us!