According to one researcher (https://www.brown.edu/news/2020-01-21/polarization https://www.brown.edu/news/2020-01-21/polarization) polarization is increasing a

According to one researcher (https://www.brown.edu/news/2020-01-21/polarization https://www.brown.edu/news/2020-01-21/polarization) polarization is increasing as parties become more closely aligned to ideologies (eg. religion, race). Looking across the aisle, your opponents looks more different then they did a decade ago. Why? My theory is that data mining and software is identifying and targeting seams of ideology that are most readily influenced, so in effect campaigning efforts are efficiently widening the divide between parties. Social media just happens to be the choice source of this data, as well as the medium to influence.