1/Here's a short follow-up thread about how to resist Twitter mobs.
The Banning of the Nazis changed the nature of Twitter mobs. They're no longer directly threatening. Now, your average Twitter mob is just 10 to 1000 people saying "you're stupid" over and over again.
The Banning of the Nazis changed the nature of Twitter mobs. They're no longer directly threatening. Now, your average Twitter mob is just 10 to 1000 people saying "you're stupid" over and over again.
2/The key power of the "you're stupid" reply-mob is that they create the illusion that Society Itself is telling you that you're stupid.
In the real world, if 1000 people tell you that you're stupid, it's a very real threat of social ostracism. We're used to thinking that way.
In the real world, if 1000 people tell you that you're stupid, it's a very real threat of social ostracism. We're used to thinking that way.
3/But Online is different than Offline.
Twitter is very good at gathering a tiny minority of 1000 like-minded people from all over the country (and world!) and concentrating them into one single place: your mentions.
Twitter is very good at gathering a tiny minority of 1000 like-minded people from all over the country (and world!) and concentrating them into one single place: your mentions.
4/So suppose you say something pretty reasonable and middle-of-the-road -- for example that North Korea is a sucky place that demonstrates the perils of revolutionary communist ideology.
IRL you won't get mobbed for saying this. On Twitter you might!!
IRL you won't get mobbed for saying this. On Twitter you might!!
5/When hundreds of people show up in your mentions screeching that you're stupid for dissing North Korea, it creates the illusion that Society thinks you're stupid for dissing North Korea.
But it's an illusion. Most people would probably agree with you.
But it's an illusion. Most people would probably agree with you.
6/The "you're stupid" type of Twitter mob thus exploits the natural habits of thought and social interaction that we learn Offline, in order to create the illusion of general social disapproval. It's a total trick, but it's a consistently effective one.
7/The way to resist these mobs is simple (if easier said than done):
You must change the way you think about social pressure Online.
You must learn not to view a few hundred screeching dipshits as representative of What Society Thinks.
You must change the way you think about social pressure Online.
You must learn not to view a few hundred screeching dipshits as representative of What Society Thinks.
8/Once you have learned that a few hundred screeching dipshits are generally not representative of What Society Thinks, those mobs instantly lose all of their power. Total paper tigers.
You can block them, mute them, ignore them, have fun engaging them - whatever you enjoy!
You can block them, mute them, ignore them, have fun engaging them - whatever you enjoy!
9/So how do you make this crucial shift of perspective?
Well, simply existing on Twitter for a while, and observing who the mobs are, gives you a big clue. You'll notice it's the same few hundred dipshits going around mobbing different people all day.
Well, simply existing on Twitter for a while, and observing who the mobs are, gives you a big clue. You'll notice it's the same few hundred dipshits going around mobbing different people all day.
10/You'll learn that the mob joiners (which I call "soldiers") follow a few big accounts (which I call "screamers"), who direct them at one target after another. This is how they have fun, relieve stress, and express status anxiety.
11/You have to imagine these Twitter mobs not as the disembodied Voice of Society, but as small gangs of ruffians who wander the digital streets looking for people to beat up. Not someone whose opinion you should care about, even a little bit.
12/Armed with this understanding, you are essentially invincible against this type of Twitter mob -- the type that simply tells you "you're stupid" over and over.
You may be stupid, but if so, these dipshits shouldn't be the ones to tell you that. :-)
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You may be stupid, but if so, these dipshits shouldn't be the ones to tell you that. :-)
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