5 Likes
This sort of thing is always circumstantial and given lowtax experience I assume he was dealing with some insane crap, so good riddance, but I’m just gonna throw it out there and point out that Siouxsie Sioux wore a freaking swatiska. So while I think it’s easy for contemporary liberals to act like the semantic lines in the sand are well defined, I really don’t think they are. Are we facing world-wide increases in xenophobia? Yes. Is it fisher price easy to evaluate? No, semantics will always be difficult. Is economic anxiety a major factor that is a better explanation vs “I’m super awesome and have superior empathy!” In my opinion, yes
Edit:
Ok I reread and yea doxing in my mind is a cardinal sin of online discourse
1 Like
Yep. People who try to section off a portion of their community like this (and like /b/ and its ilk) have forgotten Vonnegut’s Second Rule.
2 Likes
“2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for”?
http://newyorkwritersintensive.com/kurt-vonneguts-8-rules-for-writing/
2 Likes
Hah! Nope, to be honest his rules for writing weren’t known for me.
I’m thinking more of his rules for living, and I’ll confess that the ordering of those is of my own assignment.
2 Likes
Ugh, there’s a synonym for “pack of assholes” I could have done without seeing again, ever.
No doubt somebody else would have if they hadn’t, and they probably weren’t even first, but they were early demonstrators of how ridiculously easy it is to chase sincere, honest people out of unmoderated discussions using basic driving trollies tactics such as sock puppets, impersonating other users, concern driving trollies, etc. Fuck 'em and their heirs, including all the nazi bastards infesting the net now.
1 Like
I guess that’s referring to insane crap from FYAD, but he’s been through some shit in his personal life as well. Then the forums kind of saved his arse a bit: The Something Awful Forums
The Goons were a tough crowd.
1 Like
Correct, I was asserting that it sounds like it was unambiguously terrible content / behavior they were dealing with at that point, especially once I realized targeted harassment was involved.
My views on things don’t always line up with others so I have a tendency to want more info but it helps to actually read the OP first ; )
1 Like
SA taught me a lot early on online.
I mean, there was the stalker game on the forums one time around. You signed up for it, and got given another participant’s forum username, and someone else got yours. That was all the info you had, and the game was to call your target, or to call your stalker. Gameified doxxing basically. I got a phone call at work, and then managed to call the guy back after a couple of days sleuthing. Made me very aware of how easy it is to find someone. This is while MySpace was the height of social media as well.
On the other side of that, there was the Secret Santa. Again, you got a random name, and you tried to find the best present for them you could. The thought and effort on some of those gave you so much trust that people are generally good.
1 Like
Permit me a small soapbox, here. I’ll be using the word “you” in a general sense, not directed at you personally, Papasan.
I bristle a little at the dismissive trope that “the internet is terrible”. It’s not the internet or humanity in general that is the problem. It is a small group of toxic white men that are the problem. Women of color are not going around nazi shitposting and mansplaining everywhere that doesn’t ban them.
The internet is fine. It’s white men that are the problem. A relatively small group of you of course, but it is you guys. Sorry to point fingers, but please police your own. Saying the problem is “the internet” absolves the real offenders of blame and normalizes their behavior. It’s “boys will be boys” for the 21st century and I’m over it. End of soapbox.
7 Likes
Strongly disagree. Most people are good people trying to be nice to each other. All these public places that get burned down are ruined by a small number of toxic individuals.
4 Likes
What’s not mentioned very prominently in this article is the fact that this particular purge was kicked off mostly by an outbreak of particularly vicious and virulent transphobia – there’s a reason it’s called out in the admin announcements here: The Something Awful Forums - General Bullshit Announcements
As Mumsnet will show you, this is not something only cismen are guilty of.
2 Likes
I agree with everything you say, but confess I don’t see any effective way to police that small (but I suspect not-really-all-that-small) number of toxic individuals whether they’re “my own” or not.
You ban them one place, they pop up in another. You refrain from feeding the trollies, somebody else feeds them anyway. You argue with them, it turns out they have all fucking day and night to bury you in gish-galloping propaganda while not engaging in any actual good-faith debate. You elect them president of the United States and they just keep right on with their toxic driving trollies.
This is a conundrum that has always dogged people who run online forums. Strong, consistent moderation seems to be the only really viable way to handle it, and that’s only a localized solution, not a cure for the wider problem.
All that said, I wonder if you had some specific kinds of policing in mind?
Let’s put that shit on a shirt!
7 Likes
I’m surprised Lowtax hasn’t shut the whole site down by now. It’s wild that SA is still a thing but I’m glad he’s been putting his foot down on this crap cause honestly the whole irony poisoning thing is a legit problem and giving them a place to do it like FYAD wasn’t wise. Better late than never, eh?
1 Like
I remember that. She was beat up for it in France, IIRC, and said she wore it to fuck with the mainstream.
There was a time when punks wore symbols ironically. It confused a lot of people that the guy with the Mohawk wearing the swastika was punching the skinhead nazi, but it also confused people that smashing into each other was an expression of joy.
3 Likes
Permit me a small soapbox, here… Thanks for the laugh…
1 Like
#NotOnlyMen yes thank you. TERFs also suck, but whataboutism is not going to work with me.
The same way humanity has always controlled social behavior- confront it, call it out, shame the people who do it. I run a YouTube channel, and there are a great many delightful men in my regular commenters. None of them ever confront the hundreds of vile and threatening posts I get every day.
Everyone’s tendency is to hide behind their privilege, because it’s the path of least resistance. People don’t want to get involved. This is the environment in which nazi shitposters have babies and build castles.
Look no further than BoingBoing. The reason this is the only forum I participate in is that the climate here is meticulously well cultured and nobody here lets a troll last more than about eight seconds. Creating that desirable tone requires audience participation to flag, ratio, and shame. In most audiences outside BB, white men seem unwilling to do it.
1 Like
