I found your post because you included the hashtag cycles. A cycle that's been in the forefront of my mind constantly in the past few years is the 80 year generational cycle. Every 80 years, like clockwork, there is a massive political shift and until that shift is made the world is abuzz and everyone seems divided. Like myself, people who never really cared about politics in the past are suddenly quite involved. In past centuries open debate was the mechanism that helped bring about the social unity, but our current mainstream media seems hell bent on shutting down debate on any topics except those they want to promote, usually for distraction. I see the rise of social media as a response to lack of a proper debate forum. I've also noticed that social media activity seems to be waning lately and I take that as a positive sign that the world is indeed converging on a new political ideology. As if people have said their peace and are happy with the direction the world is now headed.