Here's the tea.
@kareem_carr was right in pointing out how #JamesLindsay conceives of his Twitter account as a comedy account & how we can't expect serious engagement from it.
In an interview, Lindsay has offered well-known comedians mocking Trump politics as his comparison. 1/
In that interview, he wasn't speaking of his Twitter account, he was speaking of the conceptual penis hoax. #SokalSquared
Let's go with that comparison for now.
His Twitter account relentlessly tries to mock parts of academia he dislikes. That's fine as far as that goes. 2/
The harassment that sometimes follows from his mocking particular, identifiable, and especially small accounts, that is not so fine.
His blog also mocks parts of academia his dislikes. That would also be fine as far as that goes. 3/
Comedians are a very cool part of functioning democracies. Unless they also know how to turn themselves into activists or politicians, they might or can not expect a serious response. There are several comedians who have and do change into the roles of activist or politician. 4/
Thing is, Lindsay's blog is not a comedy blog. It mocks and whines, yes. But it also claims to be very serious.
And it is financed by a Christian nationalist organization that features conspiracy theories about George Soros and Covid-19 as central topics of its own blog. 5/
So, yes, we might be best advised to ignore Lindsay's Twitter output.
But we should not stop criticizing and exposing his other work and its implications. That he has a mocking tone doesn't mean he, his investor, and his fans aren't serious. 6/
PS: The thread I mentioned above. 7/
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