Welcome to the Post-Truth Era: Where Feeling Trumps Fact

In 2016, Oxford Dictionaries named “post-truth” the word of the year, citing a growing tendency for public opinion to be shaped more by emotion and personal belief than by objective facts. Nearly a decade later, it’s become our reality. We now live firmly in the Post-Truth era, where factual accuracy is not only optional but often irrelevant.

What matters most is how information makes us feel.

The truth hasn’t disappeared. It still exists. But its authority has weakened. In its place, emotionally charged narratives, viral falsehoods, and “truthiness,” a term coined by comedian Stephen Colbert to describe things that feel true regardless of whether they are, have taken over.

The emotional component of communication has always been powerful, but in today’s digital environment, it is dominant. Social media platforms reward engagement, not accuracy. And nothing drives engagement like anger, fear, or belonging. As a result, outrage-inducing clips, conspiracy memes, and confident-sounding disinformation routinely outperform sober, evidence-based reporting. People don’t necessarily share what’s true. They share what resonates with their identity, what shocks them, or what affirms their worldview.