Journal of Other Forum Analysis (Volume II, Issue 1)

[Hap Shaughnessy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/black-myth-wukong-studio-ceo-wrote-game-of-the-year-acceptance-speech-two-years-ago-questions-selection-criteria-of-the-game-awards.1061829/page-19#post-133056171

User Banned (3 weeks): Sinophobic rhetoric, prior ban for similar behavior

Lol the country makes 1 decent game and they gotta scream from the mountaintop. A simple hack n slash with a new coat of monkey paint doesn't equal GOTY.

Seems like a lot of peeps here weren't around for NBA's All-Star voting when Yao was still on the Rockets. Western All-Star roster would basically be Houston Rockets (and Kobe) if fan voting counted 100%.

[Hap Shaughnessy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/syrian-rebels-launch-major-attack-on-regime-forces-in-aleppo-province-assad-regime-is-gone-israel-landgrabbing.1048323/page-20#post-132833871

User Banned (2 Weeks): Inflammatory Commentary

Golan Heights: Trump signs order recognising occupied area as Israeli

Sure thing, Israel doesn't even want it!

They absolutely want it, but they want it as a natural barrier not a microscopic piece of a greater Israel conspiracy. Before the 6-Day War Syria had fortified the Golan and were using it as an artillery staging ground. Israel took it so that they could prevent that from happening in future conflicts. It also allowed them to do the reverse against Syria since they now controlled the high-ground on the border.

This all happened nearly half a century ago. Just because Netanyahu likes to appeal to his base with Jewish history lessons doesn't mean the territory isn't geographically important from a military standpoint. If Israel's goal was continued expansion then they would have held onto their massive territory in the Sinai.

[DavidCroquet]

This Amir Satvat thing is interesting to me.

Like, it’s all retarded, clearly. But even as I watched his sequence on TGAs, I was thinking…so what, the guy made a spreadsheet and hosted it on a godaddy domain? Who gives a shit?

I thought it was pretty transparent that Keighley was doing a mea culpa for last year when his silence was deafening amidst the apocalyptic genocide of game devs.

But learning he’s a Tencent exec??? And he himself leaned into this “oh golly shucks gee wilikers” presentation? That is extra fucking weird.

[Ethan]

brutal. a society so afraid of human interaction and having to wait reduced to food in a locker and shuffling back to their hovels.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/december-17-2024-quartz-mcdonalds-testing-in-los-angeles-a-new-store-with-no-dine-in-area-previously-tested-at-international-mcdonalds-markets.1064010/post-133151595

Just go eat at the other McDonalds 500 yards away dude.

Is there a word for always having the most hysterical reaction to the most benign news story?

[ClothedMac]

I'm a little sick and chair ridden so I finally had time to dig up those Excel posts I promised some weeks ago.  First of all why can't we get a search like this?



Those features made all this possible.  Shout out to Demi.









Excelsiorlef gets called out for just reading the headline.  I think the post was originally titled Fascism will be normalized: WaPo legitimizes the Trump assault on the 2020 voting ballots "audits"  and the mods removed the "legitimizes."

https://www.resetera.com/threads/fascism-will-be-normalized-wapo-calls-the-trump-assault-on-the-2020-voting-ballots-audits.437732/#post-66651173

I clicked and was able to read it. It's actually a pretty interesting and informative article that dives into what all started this in one local county. It goes into minute details of otherwise no-name officials and basically describes how they were swindled into greenlighting this garbage.

The article is passive as fuck.

Well isn't that what reporting is? It states that the accusations are false, quotes the reactions of the people that are involved and highlights the context with mobs attacking the capitol etc. I really don't see anything wrong with it.

Redmerc Jumps in to save her

In the most base sense, yeah it's reporting the facts. However it's also a fact that the audits are a charade, that is the truth, and there shouldn't be a hesitancy to take a stand by presenting the truth. In a perfect world having an educated population that actually cares about the truth and facts I'd agree that it's enough to just present some unbiased accounting of just the facts, however I don't think we're there.

He white knights more in the thread

This is asinine. You are dunking on good investigative journalism because it wasn't properly edited with the explicit angle you want even though that angle is very implicit in the text. Again, we aren't children. I don't need the writer to tell me these audits are sham audits when that is made clear in the reporting.

In this one she doesn't understand what a tweet from JK Rowling is saying.  Oddly, it was permissible at that time to point out that JK was right and pointed out a faked tweet.  This one must've had a thread title change by the mods also.  https://www.resetera.com/threads/how-to-be-in-the-right-and-still-be-the-asshole-fake-homophobic-jk-rowling-tweet-spreads-and-jk-compares-it-to-the-elders-of-zion.166878/

Isn't she just saying that it's kind of bad so many people believed a fake tweet? Forgive me if I don't understand.

She's basically saying that those who'd believe a fake tweet about a noted transphobe are literally Nazis

No?

Again though pretty much everyone replying to that tweet are going off about the totalitarianism and fascism of the trans rights movement...

No one can control what others tweet so that is a ridiculous standard.

I thought we had a ban on threads based on fake tweets.

And some other crap I found at the old site while looking for those two threads. 


Era approved view of justice and contrition. 

https://www.resetera.com/threads/i-reported-a-coworker-for-fraud-today-and-now-i-feel-awful.182466/#post-31002756




This is interesting.  Excel made a thread telling people the shut up, sit down, and then stand up and vote for the democrat.  I didn't see that passion this election.  I wonder why? 

https://www.resetera.com/threads/shut-the-fuck-up-about-how-you-wont-be-bullied-to-just-vote-for-the-democrat-no-matter-who-trump-threatens-to-cut-funding-to-cali-over-abortion.166583/page-8#post-28537484

Rude

I think we're really bad here at shaming anger.

As if anger is inappropriate and never just.

Righteous anger is more blinding than regular anger. Your methods hold no weight and exist only for catharsis, hurting people in the process. I'm sure there's more reason behind this thread than getting off on shaming people right?

Some Nep crap.  This from Nov 24th, 2024 because they are just so tired.



Sweeney Swift questions the purpose of the thread.  I don't remember but it did Era blame the 2020 election on LGBT?  I don't know the narrative going on here.

Your shit ain't as slick as you think it is tbh. I was tempted to keep quiet because this is an obvious bait/trap thread (btw, real cute putting that "the majority here appreciate you", because if there's anything queer posters, posters of color etc like being reminded of, it's that we're The Minority), but then you had to insert this shit which is just blatantly "Minorities with valid concerns and criticisms? Couldn't possibly exist, people just want to see this place burn to the ground" and it's fucking sickening to see us get downplayed and dehumanized to that regard so casually. Not just here and now but anytime we have something to say. If you want me being silent about it like you clearly want me and everyone else being silent about everything else that Bothers You, please spare us the time and outright say that you want us banned. At least that's honest

Try to guess what the hell nepenthe is talking about here in the broadest terms possible.  History, film, architecture?   

Spoiler:  (click to show)(click to hide)

The stairs from the movie Joker of course!
https://www.resetera.com/threads/tourists-flood-the-joker-stairs-frustrating-bronx-residents.148557/page-11#post-25830065

350$ and it comes with the set of The Murray Show with a little chair https://toywiz.com/marvel-the-joker-collectible-figure/

Yep, it's been quite a ride.

[Boredfrom]

1734492670[/url]']
This Amir Satvat thing is interesting to me.

Like, it’s all retarded, clearly. But even as I watched his sequence on TGAs, I was thinking…so what, the guy made a spreadsheet and hosted it on a godaddy domain? Who gives a shit?

I thought it was pretty transparent that Keighley was doing a mea culpa for last year when his silence was deafening amidst the apocalyptic genocide of game devs.

But learning he’s a Tencent exec??? And he himself leaned into this “oh golly shucks gee wilikers” presentation? That is extra fucking weird.

Being a Tencent executive kind of kills the whole DIY vibe about it. That should be what people should be offended about than “OMG DEI” shit spam.

[Boredfrom]

brutal. a society so afraid of human interaction and having to wait reduced to food in a locker and shuffling back to their hovels.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/december-17-2024-quartz-mcdonalds-testing-in-los-angeles-a-new-store-with-no-dine-in-area-previously-tested-at-international-mcdonalds-markets.1064010/post-133151595

Just go eat at the other McDonalds 500 yards away dude.

Is there a word for always having the most hysterical reaction to the most benign news story?

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320844#:~:text=Catastrophizing%20means%20that%20a%20person,a%20type%20of%20cognitive%20distortion.

[benji]

Spoiler:  (click to show)(click to hide)

he still watched the show

"the fact they came out and admitted to it like a sign of pride"

You don't "admit to" signs of pride after getting caught, normally.

It's funny how she understood that immediately... her father probably was confused but I really didn't care what his opinion is.

Kids understand. They figure things out. And if they don't? They ask. C;

https://www.resetera.com/threads/disney-pulls-transgender-storyline-from-pixar’s-‘win-or-lose’-streaming-series.1063782/page-3#post-133140960

They always say this, showing how little they know. For one thing, it ignores that kids will abruptly stop asking questions and go silent when they don't understand the response they've gotten, especially from strangers. They aren't "understanding" and "figuring things out" they're dismissing it as irrelevant or useless to inquire more and moving on.

They think every kid is like two year olds who never stop asking questions. Older kids are developed enough to not be fascinated by this line of discovery anymore. It doesn't mean they're accepting of what you've said, let alone that they understand what you said. And jesus fucking christ if you think they understood what you meant but didn't say. ("I'm boldly challenging millennia of gender norms that apply only to my interpretation of the specific current culture I live in by braiding my hair and going to Disney!")

In fact, this exact example is not the kid "understanding" anything because the (likely fake) reply is literally meaningless: "I smiled and explained that 'honestly I'm just me today but thank you very much for noticing!'" Smiling and saying this indicates to her that she did something positive even if she doesn't understand what she did, at no level does it imply you should assume understanding of your being a weirdo. If anything she likely privately asked her father to explain since asking you was completely useless.

These assholes are always lecturing people about empathy, understanding, etc. but never in their life do they bother considering other people as acting in any way but how/why they want them to act or think they should act. No wonder they're obsessed with turning every social interaction into how cults operate.

[DavidCroquet]

1734493751[/url]']

1734492670[/url]']
This Amir Satvat thing is interesting to me.

Like, it’s all retarded, clearly. But even as I watched his sequence on TGAs, I was thinking…so what, the guy made a spreadsheet and hosted it on a godaddy domain? Who gives a shit?

I thought it was pretty transparent that Keighley was doing a mea culpa for last year when his silence was deafening amidst the apocalyptic genocide of game devs.

But learning he’s a Tencent exec??? And he himself leaned into this “oh golly shucks gee wilikers” presentation? That is extra fucking weird.

Being a Tencent executive kind of kills the whole DIY vibe about it. That should be what people should be offended about than “OMG DEI” shit spam.

100%

The funny part is, if they had intro’d him as a high level tencent guy—which he certainly is—everyone who is defending him now would be saying “well, that was a weird fucking segment, huh?”

It’s like they are primarily concerned with protecting their initial emotional reaction from being invalidated…I’m sure a lot of them are really struggling with that CNN Syrian prisoner story.

[benji]

The whole "kids understand" thing is this weird cope where they imagine kids as pure and innocent and thus in tune with whatever I personally believe. Then they explain the fact that the vast majority of people don't "understand" by some kind of nefarious indoctrination at some unspecified point before they become adults. (Which also explains their obsession with blocking puberty, but y'all aren't ready for that conversation.)

In reality, kids are "indoctrinated" by their parents because the parents and other family are their sole trusted information source. It's not some evil plot, it's just the naturally limited world of a child. This is why every society mandates they go to school. And no, putting more indoctrination into kids shows will not "change" this because kids are not "blank slates" that your single half hour has complete access to. (You might develop all your thoughts based on what you see in your favorite shows but we've already established that you're a weirdo.)

Real allies understand this which is why they demand all children be taken from their parents after birth and be raised harshly by the state.

[HaughtyFrank]

1734493751[/url]']

1734492670[/url]']
This Amir Satvat thing is interesting to me.

Like, it’s all retarded, clearly. But even as I watched his sequence on TGAs, I was thinking…so what, the guy made a spreadsheet and hosted it on a godaddy domain? Who gives a shit?

I thought it was pretty transparent that Keighley was doing a mea culpa for last year when his silence was deafening amidst the apocalyptic genocide of game devs.

But learning he’s a Tencent exec??? And he himself leaned into this “oh golly shucks gee wilikers” presentation? That is extra fucking weird.

Being a Tencent executive kind of kills the whole DIY vibe about it. That should be what people should be offended about than “OMG DEI” shit spam.

100%

The funny part is, if they had intro’d him as a high level tencent guy—which he certainly is—everyone who is defending him now would be saying “well, that was a weird fucking segment, huh?”

It’s like they are primarily concerned with protecting their initial emotional reaction from being invalidated…I’m sure a lot of them are really struggling with that CNN Syrian prisoner story.

To be fair, overall his website is a net positive, but yeah, I guess I question if you really need to pat some Tencent exec on the back for doing a relatively small project

[Averon]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/since-his-emotional-speech-at-the-game-awards-last-week-amir-satvat-has-received-countless-hate-messages-accusing-him-of-being-a-tencent-plant.1063338/page-2#post-133119645

User banned (2 months): Gendered slur

Spoiler: CHUB BITCH LOSING HER MIND (click to show)(click to hide)

Two months for that?

https://www.resetera.com/threads/black-myth-wukong-studio-ceo-wrote-game-of-the-year-acceptance-speech-two-years-ago-questions-selection-criteria-of-the-game-awards.1061829/page-19#post-133056171

User Banned (3 weeks): Sinophobic rhetoric, prior ban for similar behavior

Lol the country makes 1 decent game and they gotta scream from the mountaintop. A simple hack n slash with a new coat of monkey paint doesn't equal GOTY.

Seems like a lot of peeps here weren't around for NBA's All-Star voting when Yao was still on the Rockets. Western All-Star roster would basically be Houston Rockets (and Kobe) if fan voting counted 100%.

These two bans shows how arbitrary ERA modding is. Someone is repeatedly sinophobic by the mods' own admission in the ban message gets less than a one month ban. Someone uses the word "bitch", with no claim in the ban message that they are a repeat offender, gets more than double that ban length.

[Boredfrom]

1734493751[/url]']

Being a Tencent executive kind of kills the whole DIY vibe about it. That should be what people should be offended about than “OMG DEI” shit spam.

100%

The funny part is, if they had intro’d him as a high level tencent guy—which he certainly is—everyone who is defending him now would be saying “well, that was a weird fucking segment, huh?”

It’s like they are primarily concerned with protecting their initial emotional reaction from being invalidated…I’m sure a lot of them are really struggling with that CNN Syrian prisoner story.

To be fair, overall his website is a net positive, but yeah, I guess I question if you really need to pat some Tencent exec on the back for doing a relatively small project

It may be a net positive but lying by omission about it speaks about knowing their audience reactions (and how Geoff knows that they are a bunch of posers).

[TylenolJones]

Found the post.
By someone named Moriarty

I saw the name mentioned earlier in the thread and was about to ask (again) if it was Colin but then I remembered asking before in a different topic and learning there's a different (big?) named chud going by Moriarty and it being the twitter handle you posted lol

This lore goes too deep



https://www.resetera.com/threads/since-his-emotional-speech-at-the-game-awards-last-week-amir-satvat-has-received-countless-hate-messages-accusing-him-of-being-a-tencent-plant.1063338/page-7#post-133150071

[BIONIC]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/since-his-emotional-speech-at-the-game-awards-last-week-amir-satvat-has-received-countless-hate-messages-accusing-him-of-being-a-tencent-plant.1063338/page-2#post-133120257

The internet is a breeding ground for negativity and harassment. And these platforms do next to nothing to moderate any of it.

[Potato]

The way the left has easily veered into anti-Semitism when criticizing Israel made me kind of hope that Druckmann will want to stick it back to them with his next game but I guess he's more focused on brand sponsorships

Resetera would just be like: "Well, you know, with the Jews Zionists it's all about the money and the genocide."

[Potato]

I confess the bf and I both love didney and we went on a trip to didney world just last year... but i got covid on the plane and had to spend most of the trip in the hotel room and he went and rode the tower of terror without me. 

Just to be clear, that's a ride at Disney, right? You're not in some weird open relationship or anything? 

Spoiler:  (click to show)(click to hide)

[Potato]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/syrian-rebels-launch-major-attack-on-regime-forces-in-aleppo-province-assad-regime-is-gone-israel-landgrabbing.1048323/page-20#post-132833871

User Banned (2 Weeks): Inflammatory Commentary

Golan Heights: Trump signs order recognising occupied area as Israeli

Sure thing, Israel doesn't even want it!

They absolutely want it, but they want it as a natural barrier not a microscopic piece of a greater Israel conspiracy. Before the 6-Day War Syria had fortified the Golan and were using it as an artillery staging ground. Israel took it so that they could prevent that from happening in future conflicts. It also allowed them to do the reverse against Syria since they now controlled the high-ground on the border.

This all happened nearly half a century ago. Just because Netanyahu likes to appeal to his base with Jewish history lessons doesn't mean the territory isn't geographically important from a military standpoint. If Israel's goal was continued expansion then they would have held onto their massive territory in the Sinai.

Two week ban for the inconvenient truth. Stay winning era mods.

[benji]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/since-his-emotional-speech-at-the-game-awards-last-week-amir-satvat-has-received-countless-hate-messages-accusing-him-of-being-a-tencent-plant.1063338/page-2#post-133120257

The internet is a breeding ground for negativity and harassment. And these platforms do next to nothing to moderate any of it.

Yeah, people should be more like this:

This last one is especially  like... what?

1734493751[/url]']

1734492670[/url]']
This Amir Satvat thing is interesting to me.

Like, it’s all retarded, clearly. But even as I watched his sequence on TGAs, I was thinking…so what, the guy made a spreadsheet and hosted it on a godaddy domain? Who gives a shit?

I thought it was pretty transparent that Keighley was doing a mea culpa for last year when his silence was deafening amidst the apocalyptic genocide of game devs.

But learning he’s a Tencent exec??? And he himself leaned into this “oh golly shucks gee wilikers” presentation? That is extra fucking weird.

Being a Tencent executive kind of kills the whole DIY vibe about it. That should be what people should be offended about than “OMG DEI” shit spam.

100%

The funny part is, if they had intro’d him as a high level tencent guy—which he certainly is—everyone who is defending him now would be saying “well, that was a weird fucking segment, huh?”

It’s like they are primarily concerned with protecting their initial emotional reaction from being invalidated…I’m sure a lot of them are really struggling with that CNN Syrian prisoner story.

Also Jeff can't read smaller than largest headline text apparently:

Let me help him when he comes here to see what tweets to delete:

[Potato]

While Jeff Marvel seems to have got himself confused in that first tweet, I have to agree with his sentiment that The Last Jedi was a better movie than AotC and TRoS. Those were utter shite.

brutal. a society so afraid of human interaction and having to wait reduced to food in a locker and shuffling back to their hovels.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/december-17-2024-quartz-mcdonalds-testing-in-los-angeles-a-new-store-with-no-dine-in-area-previously-tested-at-international-mcdonalds-markets.1064010/post-133151595

Just go eat at the other McDonalds 500 yards away dude.

Is there a word for always having the most hysterical reaction to the most benign news story?

Reseterising?

[benji]

In that case he seems to be complaining about what would be the dominant ResetERA.com desire: getting their food with minimal human interaction and shuffling back to their rented hovel they've lived in for twenty years.

[benji]

I'm a little sick and chair ridden so I finally had time to dig up those Excel posts I promised some weeks ago.  First of all why can't we get a search like this?



Those features made all this possible.  Shout out to Demi.

https://thebore.net/forum/search.php

It's the "Search" over on the upper left above "Welcome back, ClothedMac" and under the banner.

[benji]

She needs to call the cops on Elon:

[Greatness Gone]

the tweet underneath that one says she has a white step dad. if this is true...  

EXPLAINS EVERYTHING

[Besticus Maximus]

What's an FBA forum? It's always interesting when someone tells Nepenthe to fuck off

[benji]

What's an FBA forum? It's always interesting when someone tells Nepenthe to fuck off

Black Americans who have a lineage that traces to slavery: https://officialfba.com/

They would not care for Nepenthe's claims that Black Africans and Black Brazilians have the same exact experience and understanding of being Black in America as Black Americans. They also usually aren't fans of the Black Panthers and Nation of Islam because those two groups deny the uniqueness of the Black American experience. (The Panthers, being a short-lived gang rather than some kind of long running philosophical organization, were a bit all over the place on this but ideologically typically tried to frame things in a Third World Leninism-Maoism as most radical groups in the 60s did. They were ultimately Black separatists even if focused on Black Americans.)

[Besticus Maximus]

What's an FBA forum? It's always interesting when someone tells Nepenthe to fuck off

Black Americans who have a lineage that traces to slavery: https://officialfba.com/

They would not care for Nepenthe's claims that Black Africans and Black Brazilians have the same exact experience and understanding of being Black in America as Black Americans. They also usually aren't fans of the Black Panthers and Nation of Islam because those two groups deny the uniqueness of the Black American experience. (The Panthers, being a short-lived gang rather than some kind of long running philosophical organization, were a bit all over the place on this but ideologically typically tried to frame things in a Third World Leninism-Maoism as most radical groups in the 60s did. They were ultimately Black separatists even if focused on Black Americans.)

Well at least you can credit them for following through on the logical conclusions of their ideology, as opposed to becoming a semi-famous furry of the consumer products internet.

[Boredfrom]

Man, she is getting quite infamous. Shouldn’t be this a wake up call for her?

[Chudder Barbarity]

Lmao that guy calling her out is one of those Tariq Nasheed following buck breaking lunatics. Shame I can't find this forum anywhere.

[benji]

https://galileospendulum.org/2024/12/17/goodbye-bluesky/

So, I deleted my Bluesky account.

...

While early Bluesky — which was invitation-only — had a lot of fun, there were problems with it as a Twitter replacement from the beginning. First, following Jack’s vision, Bluesky didn’t have a way to block other users’ accounts; blocking is necessary for any number of reasons from “I just don’t want to see this person’s posts because they’re annoying” to “this account is a literal Nazi/other evil entity”. Black users of Bluesky noted early on the lack of a trust and safety (T&S) department, which facilitates prevention of harassment, and despite official policies against racist activity, the network was very slow to respond.

Under pressure, Bluesky added a very powerful block function and ultimately opened up to all users without invitations in late 2023, finally implementing T&S. But a lot of the heavy lifting of moderation was left to users, who took on the task of building lists of bad actors, reporting them to T&S as they had time and energy. Some of those volunteer moderators turned out to be bad actors themselves as a result of the disorganized nature of things.

And then, my Worst Colleague™ joined the network.

My Worst Colleague™
Jesse Singal is a science journalist whose output is almost entirely committed to attacks on trans people’s healthcare, particularly trans children. He is probably most infamous for a cover story in the establishment liberal magazine The Atlantic; in that story, he asked rhetorically if trans kids were really trans and if they were worthy of receiving care. The story had many problems: misgendering the kids he profiled, implying kids were casually transitioning as a fad when trans medical care is actually very difficult to receive for adults and kids alike, and so forth. Meanwhile, a prescient story by Ed Yong tucked into the corner of the same Atlantic cover warned — before COVID-19 hit — that the United States isn’t ready for a pandemic. Other stories Singal has written exposed private medical information about children.

(As an aside: some have objected to me calling Singal a science journalist. However, that’s his job title. It’s not a statement about his ethics, which are questionable, or the quality of his work, which is unmentionable. Pretty sure he doesn’t regard me as a colleague, if it comes to that.)

Singal, like J.K. Rowling and many other anti-trans bigots, has pretty much made opposing rights for trans people his entire public personality. In addition to his articles in high-profile publications, he frequently threatens to sue people for mild criticisms, and encourages his social media followers to harass his critics, particularly those from marginalized groups.

When Singal joined Bluesky, many of us protested, asking he be banned preemptively based on his documented behavior on Twitter — all the more urgent because Bluesky has a lot of trans users who have been with the network since the beginning. As a science journalist myself, I asked the moderators to consider what values they express by allowing an open bigot like Singal on the network, whether they weighed his presence and that of his followers more than that of his targets. Users even organized a Change.org petition asking Bluesky to enforce its rules, which was signed by ordinary nobodies like me up to pop superstar Lizzo and trans filmmaker Lilly Wachowski of The Matrix fame.

Meanwhile, Singal was organizing harassers on Twitter to sign up for Bluesky to attack people there, and after he was temporarily suspended, he threatened to sue the network for enforcing their own rules. Bluesky ultimately announced organizing harassment on Twitter didn’t break their rules because they can’t police behavior elsewhere.

That argument falls apart under the slightest scrutiny. If nothing else, a lot of the worst right-wing harassment campaigns such as GamerGate on Twitter were organized on 4chan, 8chan, Reddit, and other off-site networks. However, unlike the channers, Singal isn’t anonymous: he’s literally a cover-story writer for The Atlantic, something the vast majority of journalists will never achieve in decades of work. He organizes harassment openly under his own name, not to mention his habit of threatening lawsuits willy-nilly. By saying he can break rules against harassment as long as he organizes using Twitter, the moderation team has laid out a rulebook by which everyone from stalkers to Nazis can attack Bluesky.

It’s really worrisome that Bluesky decided to wreck things for … Jesse Singal, who despite being fairly high profile in my profession is not super famous. He’s not a celebrity: a lot of people (including possibly a lot of you) hadn’t heard of him before this incident. Even I wasn’t aware of the extent of his bullying until fairly recently, though obviously his anti-trans positions alone should be enough to ban him in a reasonable world. Overturning your own network’s rules for him is like setting your house on fire for a $75 insurance payout. He’s not even benefiting the network by his presence: his account is currently the most blocked on Bluesky, with over 70,000 people blocking him. Imagine picking Singal over Lizzo.

In other words, this was a horrible set of decisions on the part of Bluesky’s management from start to finish. In the few days since they announced Singal is allowed to break their rules, he has sent cease-and-desist orders to various users — including finding people’s real names when they were posting under pseudonyms. Emboldened by all of this, a new group of trolls has descended to threaten violence against trans and other marginalized users. I decided that I personally couldn’t tolerate being on a network that encourages anti-trans harassment, not least perpetrated by an ostensible colleague.

So, I deleted my Bluesky account.

Which sucks. I joined Bluesky because some of my friends and colleagues had already moved over there from Twitter. I’ve been using the site seriously for over a year now. It genuinely looked like a network where writers like me could operate, similar enough to Twitter but with certain advantages, and a few disadvantages naturally. It was a long arduous fight to get Nazis kicked off Twitter, not that I’m claiming any credit for that; I just joined my voice to others pushing for their removal. I don’t even want to have that battle again. (With Musk in charge, the Nazis are back anyway, so any victory we had was short-lived.)

Honestly I would like to go back for the people I know there. Without Twitter, Facebook, and now Bluesky, I am completely without a social media presence for the first time since 2007 or so. (I don’t count LinkedIn, although a very nice-looking lady with a lot of cleavage messaged me there to tell me she’s visiting my city soon and would like to meet, the type of thing which is a hallmark of all true social media networks.) Maybe I will return eventually, though with the holidays here I’m deferring any decision until 2025. However, I’m thinking today of all the people Singal is harassing, wishing Bluesky had not made the wrong decision and failed to learn the lessons of multiple other social media networks over the past 20some years.

I'm so tired.

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