Week 3: Interviewing Experts

After two weeks of brainstorming and defining our initial directions, this stage was all about listening and learning. We conducted a series of expert interviews with journalists, educators, and community leaders to gain deeper perspectives on our chosen topics the avoidance of dialogue, lack of trust in media, and technological anxiety.

What We Heard

Across all interviews, one powerful theme emerged: Israeli society has lost its safe space for open conversation.

Social media algorithms and polarized media have created echo chambers where people are exposed only to opinions that match their own. This constant reinforcement leads to fatigue, distrust, and avoidance of dialogue altogether.

Our experts described a social climate in which people are afraid to speak up or engage with opposing views not out of indifference, but from emotional exhaustion, fear of conflict, and cynicism. As Oshrat Kotler put it: “We’ve forgotten how to disagree in order to learn no one teaches us to exchange ideas with curiosity and respect.”

Key Insights

1. Echo Chambers Shape Opinions Algorithms push us toward content that confirms our beliefs, limiting exposure to different perspectives. As journalist Omer Yardeni said:

   “We’ve become divided simply because we only listen to our own side.”

2. Avoidance Comes from Emotional Fatigue People experience public discourse as emotionally draining. Many prefer to stay silent rather than risk confrontation.Tzuriel from the “Fourth Quarter” movement explained:

   “Dialogue requires emotional skills and for many people, that’s too challenging.”

3. Media and Platforms Reward Conflict Both traditional and social media value attention over understanding. Arguments drive engagement, not empathy. Oshrat Kotler summarized it: “Our culture of conversation has become a subculture — people don’t learn from dialogue, they just shout louder.”

Where We’re Going Next

These insights helped us realize that our real challenge isn’t just misinformation or fear of technology it’s the lack of genuine, open, and emotionally safe communication spaces.

In the coming week, we’ll move forward to interview end users, to explore how this avoidance of dialogue appears in their everyday lives.We aim to understand what prevents young people from expressing opinions or engaging in discussions and what could help them feel safe doing so.

Next week, we’ll dive into the voices of the students themselves.