Thread by @asymmetricinfo

You guys aren't tired of tweetstorming, are you? Nah! Which is good, because I've got another column out, this one on the Twitter Wars, and the firing of James Gunn.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/we-ne…

Let the thunder roll ...

In which I gently suggest that maybe we need a statute of limitations for the capital social offense of "Saying dumb things on the internets".

You want more on that thesis, you're going to have to read the column. I'm answering questions.

The biggest question is more of a comment: "Just don't write dumb stuff on the internet, and you'll be fine"

Answer: well, maybe.

For one thing, mores change, so maybe some perfectly acceptable thing you write now will be anathema in ten years.

For another, people change. I, for one, am SUPER glad that the internet was not around when I was in college.

If you aven't changed your mind about anything really important in the last decade ... if you have not in some significant way become a better person in the intervening years ... then you're wasting your life and your intellect.

Good societies, healthy societies, enforce their norms. But they temper enforcement with generous acts of mercy.

Second question, also a comment, implying that unlike the moral cretins they are angry at, speaker has never made a stupid joke, angrily wished hyperbolically awful punishments on enemies, or voiced a thought which turned out upon closer examination, to have horrible implications

First, I don't believe you. Second, I really don't believe that you have never heard friends do these things--people you believe to be lovely, worthy folks who do not deserve to have their lives wrecked. Third, what you are describing is the behavior of citizens of a police state

In both the early days of blogging and twitter, folks treated these mediums like they were in their living rooms, BSing with friends. Judge their remarks accordingly.

Also keep in mind that jokes push the boundaries of acceptable discourse. That's one of their important social functions--to let us explore things we're worried about in a safe space. By doing so, they often let us reinforce the social norm they broke.

Question three, again not a question: "I'll stop when they do!" (Got this one from both liberals and conservatives)

To quote Gandhi: "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". Don't be too sure your eyes won't be up next for the blinding. Or those of someone you love.

Tit-for-tat sometimes works. And sometimes it spirals out of control, and the resulting cyclone wreaks enormous destruction.

I see no signs that mutually assured destruction on social media is accomplishing anything except... a lot of destruction. washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-c…

Any gains in this war are evanescent. But the damage is lasting. It's in everybody's self-interest to stop, and work out rules that protect both sides from ginned-up outrage and real damage.

Thanks for listening, folks. Read the column here: washingtonpost.com/opinions/we-ne…