SH317: 6. Social Media Isn't Broken. It's Doing Exactly What It Was Designed to Do.

Counter-Errorism in Diving: Applying Human Factors to Diving · Oct 24, 2026 · 7m

This episode explores how social media shapes the way the diving community responds to serious incidents. When an accident happens, discussions can quickly move from sympathy to certainty, with people assigning blame and explaining what the victims or divers “should” have done before the facts are known. The problem is that social media rewards strong emotions, certainty and disagreement, while complex, context-rich explanations are less likely to attract attention. This can turn real people into simple characters and discourage divers from sharing their own mistakes and near-misses for fear…