Ben Shapiro has mastered Facebook 'outrage politics'


Ben Shapiro, political commentator and founder of polarizing conservative website The Daily Wire, effectively "rules" Facebook, NPR reported on Monday, writing that he "drives an engagement machine unparalleled by anything else on the world's biggest social network site."
The Daily Wire has been so successful, in fact, that in May, the site "generated more Facebook engagement on its articles than The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, and CNN combined," NPR writes. Over the past year, its stories have seen more Facebook likes, shares, and comments "than any other news publisher by a wide margin."
But how does he do it? Well, to start, "there's a demand amongst certain subsets of the public for outrage politics," and those "on the right" — like The Daily Wire — are really good at it, said Jaime Settle, director of the Social Networks and Political Psychology Lab at the College of William & Mary.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Although the site proclaims to be "committed to 'truthful, accurate, and ethical reporting,'" The Daily Wire chooses to cover stories that "bolster the conservative agenda" and align with its audience's pre-existing biases, NPR says. For example, Shapiro's site published "at least 25 articles related to critical race theory" in the first two weeks of July. And NPR reports having found "numerous" stories about COVID-19 vaccine side effects in the last two months, but none about the shot's "demonstrated efficacy."
"They tend to not provide very much context for the information that they are providing," added Settle. "If you've stripped enough context away, any piece of truth can become a piece of misinformation."
Shapiro, for his part, rejects the idea that any of his site's content could be labeled "misinformation." In any case, argues Deen Freelon, professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, "it's hard to deny that [Shapiro is] doing what he's doing well."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
October 13 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Monday's political cartoons include Donald Trump's consolation prize, government workers during shutdown, and more
-
Can Gaza momentum help end the war in Ukraine?
Today's Big Question Zelenskyy’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles hints at ‘warming relations’ between Ukraine and US
-
The Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners being released
The Explainer Triumphant Donald Trump addresses the Israeli parliament as families on both sides of the Gaza war reunite with their loved ones
-
Trump DOJ indicts New York AG Letitia James
Speed Read New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted as Trump’s Justice Department pursues charges against his political opponents
-
Judge blocks Trump’s Guard deployment in Chicago
Speed Read The president is temporarily blocked from federalizing the Illinois National Guard or deploying any Guard units in the state
-
Trump urges jail for Illinois, Chicago leaders
Speed Read The Texas National Guard begin operations in the Chicago area
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats