How the AI feels about internet bullying.

When it comes to Twitter, the 'block' feature is my friend. I don't know why people say, 'Twitter is so toxic, all I see is stupidity and hate.' These are usually the same people quote-tweeting the most toxic thing they can find.

I don't see these because if I do, I block the people quote-tweeting the hatefulness. They either think they're doing the rest of us a favour by pointing out these examples of bad behaviour and flawed thinking, or they secretly want outrage-clout and know they'll get more likes that way.

They should put up kitty pics. I don't block kitty pics.

I also don't block Mike's beavers. Mike sits out by the river in downtown Saskatoon after work. He sits really still. Those beavers go right about their business, sometimes even nudging him out of the way. And we get to watch beavers chewing on trees, swimming, hauling branches around, taking care of kits, etc. Mike is my kind of guy. That's what Twitter is for, not arguing theories with ill-informed loudmouths.

I don't block the park rangers, the ones who warn us not to pet the 'furry cows'. They post photos that remind us of how beautiful this planet can be. Carl Bovis takes pictures of the birds in his Somerset garden, many of them from his bathroom window. He's an amazing photographer. Such people are feeding the collective soul of the internet.

Is there a place on the bird app for news? Of course: reliable, sensible, verifiable news about things that should concern us. That's there, too: an earthquake here, a tsunami there, a bank failure, an election, that train derailment. I recommend Mr Bernie Saunders, who is once again asking us to pay attention to the real stuff. But those armchair experts with their pet theories? That's what the block button is for.

Another thing the block button is there for is for people who post the outrage du jour and want everyone to agree with them. One woman got the block from me when she posted a story about herself: who offended her, and how, and her snappy comeback. Then she said, 'Don't reply to this unless you support me 100%. I don't need your negativity.' I don't need that in my head, either.

And then there are the people who ask for practical advice – at least, they pretend to. They really want sympathy. If anyone has the temerity to offer any actual advice, such as 'here's a link that might help with that plumbing problem,' they jump down your throat with a reply like 'what makes you think I don't know that?'

I really hate to say this, but some of that last category are women. And woe betide you if you answer and your icon is male. They will accuse you of 'mansplaining.' 'Mansplaining' is a word used by openly female social media types to indicate their belief that men will assume they know things they don't, and insist on explaining things to other people who actually know more about it than they do.

A lot of people I know do that. Exactly half of them are women.

If I spot gender prejudice in anybody, I block them, whether that prejudice is allegedly favouring men or women or any other gender-related community. We do not improve things by forming a clique that hates on other cliques. If I get a whiff of exclusion, I employ the ultimate exclusionary option: never listening again.

Now, why am I saying this? Am I just grumping for the sake of grumping? (After all, old persons are known to do this, amirite?) No, indeed I am not.

I'm trying to make a point about how to improve the 'discourse'.

We all lament the fact that the internet is full of poisonous rhetoric, bad 'hot takes', and dumbness. BUT! (as the Prof would say) the reason the internet is full of these things is that poisonous rhetoric, bad 'hot takes', and dumbness get clicks. They get noticed. And if you dare to suggest that you'd rather support Cats of Yore, the poster with a massive collection of vintage kitty photos, you're accused of Not Caring That Civilisation Is About to Collapse.

I refute this, thusly. 'If you'd all stop listening to the dumbness,' I insist, 'it will gradually die down. Just as it does when all the coworkers walk away from the water cooler when the office bore shows up. It may take awhile, but eventually the hole left by people NOT talking about stupid stuff will be filled with better content.'

In the meantime, you can enjoy RAF Luton's silly photos. Or bad music puns. Only engage with friendly people. Only subscribe to what's useful (even sad things can be useful). Unsubscribe from belligerent folks who have to put their degrees in their byline and then only talk about how offended they are by whatever. And only share the Good Stuff (that includes the h2g2 Post, of course).

And if the worst offenders on the retweeting-toxic-stuff front are your friends, don't block your friends. Just sigh and block whoever they just retweeted. You'll stay in touch and keep your sanity.

This has been a public service announcement. I read Twitter so you don't have to.

Dmitri Gheorgheni

03.04.23 Front Page

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