Nietzsche’s Ressentiment in the Age of Algorithm-driven Social Media

Autores/as

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/2965-1557.038.e202633376

Palabras clave:

Nietzsche, Negative affect, Ressentiment, Algorithms, Outrage campaigns

Resumen

This article focuses on the phenomenon of online outrage campaigns, which usually revolve around such topics as religion, race, gender, and sexuality. Being one of the features of the current antagonistic climate in the online public sphere, these campaigns are largely exacerbated by the algorithmic rules that incentivise the production of provocative content for maximum visibility. One of the explanatory concepts for such radicalisation of the online public sphere is Friedrich Nietzsche’s ressentiment, introduced in his On the Genealogy of Morality, the concept which has seen a marked return to contemporary academic and public discourse. Ressentiment means a mental attitude that arises when vengeful impulses lose their touch with the object. This attitude is characterised by both impotence in changing something about the subject’s own deprived state and proactiveness in creating values out of this state. This article will first trace the development of Nietzsche’s concept of ressentiment and its evolving role in cultural and political theory. It is proposed to view ressentiment not as a diagnostic tool applied to specific groups but as a state that the online public sphere is already saturated with. Secondly, it will examine how ressentiment operates within the algorithmically driven online public sphere, setting several online outrage campaigns as examples. In doing so, the paper hopes to contribute to a clearer understanding of how negative affect functions in digital spaces, facilitates identity building and conceals the real discontent of online users.

Descargas

Los datos de descargas todavía no están disponibles.

Biografía del autor/a

Karolina-Dzhoanna Gomes, East China Normal University

Postdoctoral researcher, Philosophy Department, East China Normal University, Shanghai

Descargas

Publicado

2026-04-22

Cómo citar

Gomes, K.-D. (2026). Nietzsche’s Ressentiment in the Age of Algorithm-driven Social Media. Revista De Filosofía Aurora, 38, e202633376. https://doi.org/10.1590/2965-1557.038.e202633376

Número

Sección

Fluxo contínuo