Thread by @laurahelmuth

One of the many invisible good deeds people deserve more credit for is not kicking down, especially on Twitter, even when it’s tempting. I recently got kicked at by someone with 11x more followers than me, let’s call him Yatt Mglasias. <thread>

I tweeted out a lovely story by some desert ecologists about how movies often present deserts as wastelands, but they’re actually really interesting and rich. The story was pegged to Dune, and my tweet (I realized belatedly) could be read to mean that I didn't understand Dune.

I got dunked on by a few people who hadn’t read the article. Then Yatt tweeted a snide tweet to his half-million followers. Predictably, legions of Yatt fans are now sending me elaborate, misogynistic messages about how stupid I am.

Yatt and I worked in the same office for about 4 years. We haven’t stayed in touch, but we were friendly. Pretty sure he knows I’m not stupid and that I can comprehend books & movies. It was a cheap joke for him that became an annoyance for me (but trivial for a Twitter hassle).

But it made me appreciate again that most people in our Twitter circles (anybody reading this) do NOT kick down or sideways, no matter how much of a ding-dong we think somebody is. It takes good judgment and thoughtfulness to use this space well, and I appreciate it. <end>