Trolls and provocateurs feed off our generosity, though. We don't serve the cause of decency when we give them cover.
Trying to make Twitter a more decent place is a project of mine, so I understand what @mattyglesias is trying to do here. But while I agree that we should give folks the most generous reading possible, giving trolls a MORE generous reading than is possible is a serious mistake.
Herzog wasn't encouraging people to seek balance and generosity in their lives. She was being snotty about the therapeutic project, and using the idea of helping others as a lever by which to do so.
"Lots of people are in therapy who shouldn't be" is one idea. "People should help strangers more" is another idea. Whether they're good ideas or bad, there's no reason to yoke them together except to paint therapy itself as destructive and self-indulgent.
And the whole spark of Herzog's tweet came from the juxtaposition. "You should quit therapy and do other stuff with your time" is wan trolling. "You might be happier if you spent more time helping other people" is wan self-helpism.
Herzog was being a jerk to strangers on purpose. The tweet itself makes it clear, and her followups leave no doubt. And "being a jerk to strangers on purpose" is far closer to what's wrong with Twitter than "being mean to people who are jerks to strangers on purpose."
