Thread by @donttrythis

I have some thoughts about @TEDchris interviewing @jack onstage. The reality is that when one white man interviews another, the result is likely to disappoint the POC and marginalized communities affected by the subject matter, simply because that’s what nearly ALWAYS happens.

This is even despite the stated intentions of those who might have a genuine desire to unpack the real and controversial issues present in the room. Because what you end up with is two people of incredible privilege trying to discuss something neither really knows about.

Neither of these men has ever endured anything REMOTELY close to the kind of harassment that POC, & female, & trans activists deal with online and irl EVERY SINGLE DAY. It’s literally another world from the one they live in. They might be able to read about it, & be told about it

But that’s radically different from being able to speak from the experience of it. It’s a difference CLEARLY visible to those who aren’t successful white men. There are occasional exceptions to this, of course, but the world needs more than that small hope right now.

It feels like we’re on a precipice right now. And which way we tip is anyone’s guess. This is a scary time. And two privileged dudes conversing about issues they’ve read and heard about but have no real abiding experience of isn’t likely to be part of the humanist solution.

I’m not saying that @TEDchris is lacking in empathy. Or is incapable of seeeing what’s going on. I know him and genuinely like him. He and his insanely smart, competent (& mostly female) team were phenomenal editors & collaborators to work with when i did my TED talk.

But @TEDchris, please try and see the bubble you live in. And please pass on the duties of interviewing @jack to someone else, I’m imploring you. Someone who has directly experienced the horrors that Twitter’s single minded desire for “engagement” has wrought.

There are a TON of them in the TED community. Jack’s actions have DIRECTLY contributed to the shitstorm we are currently in. Twitter’s inability to police the poison in its midst no longer feels like an oversight. It’s too pervasive & too many have suffered.

Yes, I’m saying this from the position of being a privileged white man. One who engages with twitter personally, professionally, and politically. And I’ve interviewed hundreds of people in the past and I’d turn this interview down flat if it was offered to me.

Because we are living through a direct threat to democracy, where the already uneven playing field is being tipped hard by the forces of white supremacy, misogyny, and greed. IMHO if you’re not starting from that stance to talk to @jack, you’re not going to get anywhere useful.

These are life and death issues to the people directly affected by social media and late-stage-capitalism’s singular need for eyeballs at any and every cost. Because that cost right now could be humanity and also the planet. We are all in that community. Some don’t know it yet.

In closing, @TEDchris, please please pretty please hand the duty of interviewing @jack on the TED stage to someone else. Be a real part of the solution. That’s my idea worth sharing. All love and peace.