Dissenting through the mainstream

Social networks reward agreeable, easily shared opinion packages, which turns dissent into a commercial product rather than a real challenge. Ranking is driven by click-through rates and a binary tournament of thumbnails and titles, favoring the most comprehensible and composable takes, while dissent is offered as a glossy $9.99 starter pack for overthrowing "the latest tyranny." Real dissent, by contrast, cannot exist within the mainstream; it requires distinction, seclusion, careful curation and sacrifice, and its strength comes from adaptability, asymmetry and solitude.