281–290 of 613 posts
Be anonymous. Be obscure. Stop talking to people on the internet.
That's not compatible with people whose livelihood directly or indirectly relies on having a large and/or dedicated audience on Twitter or other social networks, or people who by the nature of their livelihood are public figures even if they're not active on social media. Which isn't to say that your advice is poor advice!
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I mean, "angry mobs" have always existed as you said yourself. They didn't seep into "adult spaces", they've always been there. We don't need to blame Twitter, the Internet as a whole, anonymous communication platforms or anything else for human nature. The fight against cancel culture is a fight against people doing things. It's literally that. "Cancelling" is just a framing device for a myriad of behaviors and reas…
I recently had a mentally ill family member try to work up a mob to get another family member fired from their job over some perceived slight. This person was able to get attention from media figures on Facebook who were interested in writing a story. They attempted to make noise on Twitter using the employer's account. I don't think anyone had tools like this at their disposal in the 1990s. You could call up someone…
The Salem Witch Trials were cancel culture. Jim Crow lynch mobs were cancel culture. The Red Scare was cancel culture. Same idea, new execution.
(Edited for spelling error)
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Nope, not true and a gross distortion of what happened that night.
Noah, why are you even replying to this guy? He is obviously a troll, and you won't be able to "explain" anything to him. Personally, I enjoy ignoring his types in online debates. Bait them, and ignore them - priceless.
>Bait them, and ignore them - priceless.
This is a nearly exact definition of trolling.
It seems it's better to stay away entirely from certain sensitive topics. No matter your intentions, no matter what you actually think, it just takes a bit of misunderstanding or bad faith and the whole thing explode.
I think you are right. And it really bothers me because sometimes I see something really unfair, and it is hard to not say anything, but it is not real life and you only need a handful of anonymous people with enough time on their hands to make your life hell. Just because you're not anonymous. I almost regret being my real me online. We always had trolls, but this is something else. I almost deleted this comment bef…
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I'm glad we've found the first person in life who has never made a mistake! What a shining example you are.
I have never been a sexual predator and will commit to never being one in the future. This is something I would wager the vast, vast majority of the public can commit to too. This is not something weird or out of the ordinary.
Great blog-post. I find it pointless for this 'cancelling-cult' to even be a thing. It achieves nothing but destruction and it is beyond medieval standards. It's like the mob wants to find a new villain every week, because of a somewhat past 'crime' on Twitter or a mistake that we disavowed our younger-self online and they still force us to apologise for it. Even when we begin to apologise, it is never enough and the…
It seems it's better to stay away entirely from certain sensitive topics. No matter your intentions, no matter what you actually think, it just takes a bit of misunderstanding or bad faith and the whole thing explode.
And when the chilling effect is strong enough, it atomizes and isolates individuals, makes them feel powerless, and creates a false sense of consensus around a particular issue.
Domination and coercion over genuine persuasion -- that's the point.
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Alternatively, don't be a sexual predator that assumes it will never lead to any consequences later in life.
Whats the difference between having sex and being a sexual predator? Do you just make things up as you go? The frightening thing about "cancel culture" isnt that its new or eye-opening. Its has always existed, sandboxed, in places called school playgrounds . The world have adults has this annoying thing called due process. Filing cases, going to court, giving evidence etc etc. Now that the playground rules are statin…
I don't think it's necessary to answer this because "sexual predator" was literally Noah's description of himself and his behavior (in those words) in the apology post that led to Wizards no longer wanting to work with him.
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Good for you for doing the right thing. Let me ask you - did you feel like the hate thrown at you on Twitter was completely organic? Was there anything that made you question the motives of the involved Twits? I ask because the whole smear job vs Stallman felt quite manufactured to me; from the initial Vice article horrifically misquoting him, to the weirdly rabid hate towards anyone defending him on forums like this…
I agree that what Stallman said was misrepresented, and perhaps the later stages of the "cancelling" were more manufactured, but the initial anger that popped up on various MIT mailing lists felt very organic to me. A bit mob-like, definitely driven moreso by emotion than a good-faith reading of what Stallman said, and probably amplified by people who disagreed feeling afraid to speak out. But I wouldn't describe any…
I got canceled in the group I founded. 12 years ago I started a reddit community based on my relationships and attractions. After building to 28k subs 10 years later, fb groups and meetups around the country. Animosity toward leadership and mods began to form. A small group of users formed resistance and started a scuffle in a post, then threats toward meetup attendees directed at mods started appearing on the discord. Complaints started appearing on the facebook group. There was no reasoning or logic to their complaints and they almost seemed incorrigible... like a bloodlust. In the end, I was forced out and exiled. I would later learn that the resistance was mostly unstable crazed users who fed on drama. Since the event their reddit and facebook profiles document a life in chaos for each of them.
It's weird not being able to speak in a community you designed and built over a decade. Even as your face/likeness and artwork is still in use in all the published materials. Thankfully things have mostly calmed down now.