I'm reading through Talia's book and a lot of it is "oh I knew that" because, like... I was there, Gandalf. 3,000 years ago when these fucking orcs invented gamer gate and the current cycle of extremely online misery and bullshit started. But seeing her lay out all the bullshit the online right spews out I sometimes wonder if we haven't been infected by them, sort of a "the abyss stares back" thing. Y'all ever wonder about shit like that when we make chad memes or joke about being volcel?
I think the idea that you will become your enemy by using their jokes is dumb. I think it comes from an ideological weakness. Similar to people who think you're tainted by speaking with the enemy or by being amicable with reactionaries with which you share a common interest (like Iranian theocrats wrt anti-imperialism).