The article examines the paradox of digital political engagement in Poland: a high affective polarization coexisting with a weak civic efficacy. It proposes a model of the „political hobbyism ecosystem” combining political identity psychology, the architecture of social media platforms, and the distinction between politics as a hobby and powerbuilding. It argues that polarized identities fuel engagement-maximizing algorithms, turning the conflict into an affective gratification rather than an effective collective action. Using CBOS survey data, I test a key prediction about the asymmetry between liberal hobbyism and conservative power-building. Liberal and left-leaning voters more often consume political information but are less likely to engage in persuasion and report a lower political efficacy than right-wing conservative voters. The model shifts attention from „echo chamber” and „filter bubble” metaphors to affective mobilization and unequal pathways from emotion to efficacy, explaining how the digital public sphere can simultaneously intensify conflict and undermine mobilization.
