1. People treating reactions like they need to be “correct.” Online, especially on places like X (formerly Twitter), people don’t just have opinions—they feel like they need to defend them or prove others wrong. So if someone reacts emotionally to an ending, someone else jumps in

The claim that people online, especially on platforms like X (formerly Twitter), treat emotional reactions as if they need to be “correct” and feel compelled to defend or prove others wrong is well supported by the available literature on social media behavior. Although none of the sources are from highly trusted or peer-reviewed outlets, they consistently highlight the prevalence of emotional responses in online discourse and the tendency for users to engage in defensive or confrontational interactions. Studies on emotional regulation, polarization, and discourse analysis across various social media contexts show that emotional reactions often trigger immediate counter-reactions, reinforcing conflict and the need to assert correctness. This dynamic is particularly visible in politically or culturally charged discussions, where emotional investment drives users to defend their views aggressively. While the sources focus on different topics, their findings converge on the social media environment fostering emotionally charged exchanges that escalate into disputes over the “correctness” of reactions.