On Bernie harassment, journalists never know who to believe: the people who consistently report being swarmed and harassed, or their cool funny friends in Brooklyn who say it's all fake and DEFINITELY aren't doing it themselves at all.
It's not hard to explain what Bernie online harassment is, how it works, why it's effective, and why it matters, but that would require trusting that people aren't making it up. Many online-oriented journalists refuse, because it alienates, e.g., funny ex-Deadspin writers.
You know what? I'll just do it.
WHAT ONLINE HARASSMENT IS:
-People flooding into your mentions after you make a comment criticizing Bernie or someone in the wider Bernieverse
-A few are very abusive, many mildly so (e.g., memes), most just insistently tell you you're wrong
WHAT ONLINE HARASSMENT IS:
-People flooding into your mentions after you make a comment criticizing Bernie or someone in the wider Bernieverse
-A few are very abusive, many mildly so (e.g., memes), most just insistently tell you you're wrong
HOW IT WORKS:
-Major accounts with large followings - including campaign staff, notably - call attention to particular tweets they want to target
-The goal is to cause a pile-on
-Lots of smaller, anonymous accounts jump on the flagged account
-The pile-ons can last for days
-Major accounts with large followings - including campaign staff, notably - call attention to particular tweets they want to target
-The goal is to cause a pile-on
-Lots of smaller, anonymous accounts jump on the flagged account
-The pile-ons can last for days
WHY IT'S EFFECTIVE:
-Social isolation is an effective peer pressure device
-The volume of comments is a significant factor: more than can be monitored
-We subconsciously measure our views by the affirmation they receive, so massive pile-ons cause excruciating self-doubt and worry
-Social isolation is an effective peer pressure device
-The volume of comments is a significant factor: more than can be monitored
-We subconsciously measure our views by the affirmation they receive, so massive pile-ons cause excruciating self-doubt and worry
WHY IT'S EFFECTIVE pt 2:
-Even if you trust your views against the crowd, it's a major stressor, because you know there are hundreds of people trawling through your public presence even as you go about your day-to-day offline life. That's mentally taxing, even debilitating
-Even if you trust your views against the crowd, it's a major stressor, because you know there are hundreds of people trawling through your public presence even as you go about your day-to-day offline life. That's mentally taxing, even debilitating
WHY IT MATTERS:
-Coordinated mobs are good at creating uniformity of opinion, we naturally assume the side with more people is correct
-People shade or alter their opinions to avoid facing the mob, avoiding criticizing Bernie or framing things favorably to him
-Coordinated mobs are good at creating uniformity of opinion, we naturally assume the side with more people is correct
-People shade or alter their opinions to avoid facing the mob, avoiding criticizing Bernie or framing things favorably to him
It's no great mystery that mob pressure works. We've got literally centuries of experience showing us how angry crowds can whip people into a frenzy, that groupthink is real, that critics can be bullied into silence and doubt. There are so many books and movies about this!
It works because if everyone is telling you you're wrong, and you're wrong, it feels exactly the same as when everyone's telling you're wrong, and you're right: it feels awful. No voice comes down from on high to tell you to hold your ground.
The problem is that we don't want to admit we (or our friends) are susceptible to these dynamics. Everyone always thinks they're immune: they would never respond to it, they'd never engage in it. Sorry, but we're all vulnerable here.
