Why Are We So Quick to Label Each Other?

Have you noticed how quickly people jump to label others these days? You share an opinion online, and before you can refresh, someone’s already decided exactly who you are: liberal, conservative, woke, boomer, snowflake.

We don’t talk anymore—we categorize. It’s like we’re all walking around with barcode scanners, sorting each other into neat ideological aisles.

But labeling isn’t understanding. It’s emotional shorthand—a way to make sense of a messy world without doing the hard work of empathy. Once someone’s been named, we stop listening to them. The label does all the talking.

Of course, social media fuels the fire. Platforms are designed to amplify outrage because anger keeps us scrolling. The sharper the insult, the faster it spreads. Nuance doesn’t trend; name-calling does.

According to a 2021 Pew Research Center study, nearly two-thirds of Americans say political conversations have become more negative and less respectful lately. That’s not just about politics—it reflects how we talk about everything.

And to be fair, labeling isn’t always malicious. Sometimes it’s how we find our people—how we signal what we value and where we belong. But the same tool that connects us can also divide us. When labels become walls instead of windows, they stop helping us understand each other.

We’re exhausted, overstimulated, and trying to make sense of a fractured world. Labeling provides a shortcut—a quick way to feel certain when everything else feels uncertain. But that shortcut has a cost: it shuts down curiosity.

Maybe the way forward isn’t through more arguing but through more asking. Instead of labeling someone, we could try asking why they believe what they do. We might still disagree, but we’d be disagreeing with a person, not a label. It could start as simply as saying, “Tell me more about how you see it,” or pausing long enough to really listen before replying.

Because nobody ever changes their mind after being called a name.

Maybe it’s time to look past the labels and see the people behind them.

(Tim Herrera is the author of “Public Speaking: Simple Steps to Improve Your Skills” and “Mastering Media: Strategies for Effective Communication in the Digital Age.”  You’ll find both Amazon.)