Social media was already massive, it was just primarily Facebook and Twitter (Arab Spring heavily involved social media). The US tea party movement had been around for a few years, some people were still very jazzed up about Affordable Care Act, only part of the defense of marriage act had been overturned and lawsuits would continue for a few more years. Conservatives hated Obama and were already talking about taking their country back.
Most everything in the US is just extrapolation plus some pandemic fuel.
2013 was just before the start of Russia’s invasion and illegal annexation of a part of Ukraine. Things were very different.
Also, it was before massive social media, Trump and the woke thing, so USA resembled a sane place.
Social media was already massive, it was just primarily Facebook and Twitter (Arab Spring heavily involved social media). The US tea party movement had been around for a few years, some people were still very jazzed up about Affordable Care Act, only part of the defense of marriage act had been overturned and lawsuits would continue for a few more years. Conservatives hated Obama and were already talking about taking their country back.
Most everything in the US is just extrapolation plus some pandemic fuel.