I really try to hang out in more nuanced modes of rhetoric but: Don’t amplify psychological terrorism by repeating it in social media posts condemning it.
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I really try to hang out in more nuanced modes of rhetoric but: Don’t amplify psychological terrorism by repeating it in social media posts condemning it. Stop.
When you do this, no matter your intent, you are helping the worst people by repeatedly exposing the intended targets to the terrorizing messages.
Yes, hate campaigns need to be discussed. Not by amplifying the messages themselves across networks rich in their targets.
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Terrified people getting constantly re-terrified can’t think clearly. We all need to be thinking as clearly as we can. This was true in 2016 and during the early-pandemic info vacuum and it’s true now.
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@kissane
we need more "tend and befriend" response and less "fight, flight or freeze" over the long haul. -
@kissane Is there a way to protect people's psyches without playing nice? I blame playing by the rules for the US loss.
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@PassiveIdeation This isn’t about rules at all, it’s about taking care of people’s brains and bodies so they can do the essential work of fighting fascism, which begins with not spinning out into despair and terror.
There are so many orgs working on defense and care and action, and none of that work is served by amplifying trolls. The people whose interests are served by paralysis and a constant state of fight or flight are the fascists.
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@fifilamoura YES
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@kissane During the AIDS crisis most of what we were doing was tending and befriending. People on the outside saw the activism and there was lots of organizing among ourselves and with allies but the tend and befriend network of queer and straight people was the foundational layer. This isn't like organizing a corporate event or advertising campaign, you need to focus on care for those who need it first. There'll be plenty of work for the people who want to campaign too (as there was during the AIDS crisis) but any real movement comes out of taking emotional and physical care of each other.
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@kissane I think we lack counter propaganda. I hope that's possible without amplifying trolls.
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From Small Steps, Big Impact: Combating Hate Through Individual Actions -- it's phrased in terms of disinformation but applies to hate campaigns in general:
avoiding amplification
naming the motivations behind disinformation
avoiding posting the disinformation on other social media platforms
going on the offense and posting as much truthful information as possible
and using engaging content (graphics, memes, videos, etc.) that guarantees the spread of factual information.
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I think there is a lot to be said about keeping a positive mindset, but the world turns regardless of how it makes us feel
The vile things people say bother me too, but over time I found ways to not allow the vitriol to spur an emotionally charged response.
Its our individual responsibility to find ways we can catalogue the nonsense, express strongly opposing ideas, and be calloused enough to not have a meltdown every time. It's happening whether we see it or not
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@kissane Can you explain what you mean with an example? What's psychological terrorism?
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@kissane I don’t know the exact sort of rhetoric this is targeting but I do see people in social media that seem to overreact in less than beneficial ways.
To be clear and straightforward I do think that for some people (for example US immigrants or folks with disabilities needing healthcare protections or LGBTQ folk facing harassment or rights issues) that there are absolutely very good reasons for immediate concerns.
I also think that #USfascism is a very real real concern.
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@gene_parmesan @PassiveIdeation "Positive mindset" nothing.
Repeating rape threats and promises of violence where their targets have to see them over and over is not a way to strengthen people's resolve, it's carrying water for the terrorists.
It manifestly does not work and people who do it should stop if they want to be useful.
(If you take criticism of your comms strategy as censorship/pearl-clutching/thought policing, maybe you could use some of that toughing up you keep advocating.)
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@IanStuart Quoting hate posts from the worst trolls, mostly. Screenshotting rape threats and promises of personal violence and spreading them across networks to show how bad the opposition is.
It doesn't work, but that doesn't slow people down.
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@ix9 This stuff
Erin Kissane (@[email protected])
@[email protected] Quoting hate posts from the worst trolls, mostly. Screenshotting rape threats and promises of personal violence and spreading them across networks to show how bad the opposition is. It doesn't work, but that doesn't slow people down.
mas.to (mas.to)
I see people picking up whatever trash the Proud Boys or whatever are saying on Twitter and then spreading it *everywhere* to show their disapproval.
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@kissane
Hey there, does this include the post I made about an ACORN day of action? I wrote a summary of the events. In short, ACORN went into a bailiff's office to protest their targeting of travellers and the bailiffs reponded by locking in union members and assaulting them. https://wetdry.world/@avesbury_rosetta/113477408011077864 -
@avesbury_rosetta Absolutely not. I'm talking about taking hate quotes and memes from infamous far-right trolls and politicians—mostly made on X—and spreading them as widely as possible as a way of advertising how bad the bad people are.
That means becoming an amplifier for a bad signal, which I think is not what we should be doing if we want to be effective.
Journalism that describes events in the world is a different thing—I read and support a lot of independent and citizen journalism.
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@avesbury_rosetta I also want to note that you took the trouble of CWing your post, which is itself a demonstration of care for your community!
I think if people who constantly repost the latest MAGA press release or whatever would CW, that would be helpful—but I think their theory of change is that you have to shock and prod and scare people into action, so CWing would go against their whole deal.
It's like…the opposite of trauma-informed comms. But I guess some people really like it.
