Today I learned how deeply *many* people feel the need to fulminate via the Fediverse, how important it is to them that such fulminations not be contradicted, and how disturbed and angry they become if they encounter any objection.
This saddens me because those are all the hallmarks of people who feel defeated, who see no hope of changing their world.
@baslow well put, sounds about right.
@baslow I get blocked a lot for posting a contrary opinion as a reply, just as you describe. One funny thing I've noticed is that people almost always reply to me immediately before blocking me. I wonder what the thinking is there; is it a subconscious desire to have the last word?
@ech
Increasingly, I seek explanations primarily at levels of structure, only secondarily in psychology.
Microblogging platforms are designed for "verbal paintball" volleys - quick, visceral, noticeable, uncritical takes are favored; exchanges are more easily interpreted as unfolding one-upsmanship than as discussion.
Such structures require extra effort, forethought and meta-analysis to resist falling into their thrall...
@baslow again, well put!
@baslow You'd hope large instance runners would do this work, but alas I got booted from mstdn.social for fascist vitriol like "Flip side, though, libertarian extremist violence is extremely rare, you gotta admit" and "The state runs the schools, so of course it regulates history books. That's obviously true regardless of party."
You see, I dared suggest that lefty-idpol maybe doesn't have a monopoly on righteousness.
@ech
Yes, but more particularly, it's a kind of Greek Chorus:
* occupying the stage strictly as onlookers, inhibited from taking part in the action
* adopting "artful" poses of loud, mournful or lugubrious comments proclaiming the inevitability of what's unfolding
* promoting an attitude of remove and unreality that ultimately defeats the (possibly unruly) collective action that might effectively upturn the state of things that favor the powerful.
#SeizeTheMeansOfCommunity