How do we neuter the power of Twitter mobs? Seems like they can bully and intimidate any organization from universities to corporations to GitHub projects to kowtow to their demands. Their demands are usually to fire, boycott, or boot people with opinions that run afoul of the mob. Not a healthy precedent to set. We will regret this later if we continue down this path.
Two things: We probably only hear the stories where they succeed, or nearly so, which may be anywhere from almost all the attempts to only a tiny number. Second, if this is a which hunt, then we should treat it as such and immediately lob accusations at those who start the accusations.
Make the only cancelling appropriate be for cancelling cancellers. So focus cancel energy on itself.
Personally, I will review job applicants social media history and if there is any “Reeeee” I take that into account as part of reference checks and whatnot.
It seems like someone posting “I’m an MIT alum and I demand this speaker be cancelled” would reflect as lack of critical thinking and reasoning.
I fear that this leads to islands of organizations where there are groups that don’t like this Twitter mob tactic and groups that do. God help those in orgs that think Twitter mobbing is a good thing.