John Oliver discusses a week that saw the Republican National Convention, a horrific series of shootings in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and a strike in professional ...
I completely get that haha. It was definitely a habit for me too that I still sometimes struggle with to the point where I don't even really like to quote-reply sections of peoples' comments because I feel like it is immediately read/seen as negatively argumentative. Obsessively posting on GameFaqs, SomethingAwful, and IGN forums as a pre-teen definitely ruined me forever - and whats worse is that, at least for Gamefaqs and SA, I can actually go back and read my cringe comments from 2007 and really fall into that pit of self-loathing.
I think the fact that you recognize those flaws in your interactions online speaks volumes about your intentions being good overall and I respect that. Although, personally, it is my belief that just as we need our level-headed and kind comrades to help educate & draw people in - we also need the people who tap into their anger when they're at protests or public events and are probably more likely to tell someone to "pick up a fucking book" when asked a question.
You're probably right about framing our problems as solvable things and approaching the general community who are unaligned with us politically with niceness is probably a better way to organize - but I think the same can be said about just denouncing capitalism and anyone who earnestly supports those who are at the top. I'm sure I'll regret it in a few years when Zuckerberg hands over a ready-made list of every even slightly left of center profile to the FBI, but I have kept my Facebook for the last couple of years solely just to mock people like my old boss who post shitty boomer memes that talk about 'getting a job' and whatnot; and surprisingly I've had at least 3-4 people reach out to me privately, who have seen me just posting shit like a "shut the fuck up, centrist" meme to every three paragraph long response in a 50 comment thread where I've already explained something like wage theft, asking to know more or for clarification on a point raised. That's when I try to engage them respectfully & nicely.
Just different strokes for different folks, you know? Thanks for coming to my Tedx Talk :admiral-biderman:
I completely get that haha. It was definitely a habit for me too that I still sometimes struggle with to the point where I don't even really like to quote-reply sections of peoples' comments because I feel like it is immediately read/seen as negatively argumentative. Obsessively posting on GameFaqs, SomethingAwful, and IGN forums as a pre-teen definitely ruined me forever - and whats worse is that, at least for Gamefaqs and SA, I can actually go back and read my cringe comments from 2007 and really fall into that pit of self-loathing.
I think the fact that you recognize those flaws in your interactions online speaks volumes about your intentions being good overall and I respect that. Although, personally, it is my belief that just as we need our level-headed and kind comrades to help educate & draw people in - we also need the people who tap into their anger when they're at protests or public events and are probably more likely to tell someone to "pick up a fucking book" when asked a question.
You're probably right about framing our problems as solvable things and approaching the general community who are unaligned with us politically with niceness is probably a better way to organize - but I think the same can be said about just denouncing capitalism and anyone who earnestly supports those who are at the top. I'm sure I'll regret it in a few years when Zuckerberg hands over a ready-made list of every even slightly left of center profile to the FBI, but I have kept my Facebook for the last couple of years solely just to mock people like my old boss who post shitty boomer memes that talk about 'getting a job' and whatnot; and surprisingly I've had at least 3-4 people reach out to me privately, who have seen me just posting shit like a "shut the fuck up, centrist" meme to every three paragraph long response in a 50 comment thread where I've already explained something like wage theft, asking to know more or for clarification on a point raised. That's when I try to engage them respectfully & nicely.
Just different strokes for different folks, you know? Thanks for coming to my Tedx Talk :admiral-biderman: