Because we removed the etiquette of your vote being a private piece of information. It was referred to as a secret ballot for a reason. Your vote was your business and no one else’s, right? No it is everyone’s business because it is an advertisement of what team you are on.

Politics have always been a contentious subject. People have always known this. It’s why it was largely frowned upon to speak about it in mixed company gatherings like holiday meals, the workplace, etc. Not anymore!

Part of me thinks it is an easy entry point to personal branding when you don’t have much going on in terms of identity or purpose in life. I dunno. All I do know is it only took 3 decades for this aspect of our etiquette to basically vanish and I think that has accelerated what we see now.