On Anti-Feminist Twitter Abuse
Jun. 18th, 2014 09:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
danieldwilliamI was on Twitter last night thrilling the world with the occasional wry remark about the World Cup and catching up on Sarah Boyak’s view on localism
when I happened upon someone I follow being abused. She’d trigger some series of twitterbots using hacked accounts with some connection to Operation Men In Charge which were filling her timeline with some foul language, sexual slurs, anti-feminist abuse and what I think are some Men’s Rights Activist / Conservative Christian slogans.
I’m not even sure that it was particularly directed at her politics. Just using her politics as lever to get some jollies out of being rude to someone.
Upsetting but I think ultimately harmless – if you know that it’s not dozens of actual people typing vitriolic hate mail to you and are prepared to wade through hours of profanity. I suspect less harmless if you didn’t know it was just some 12 year old with some script he’d nicked being a dickhead or if you’d had lots of personally targeted abuse in the past or were having a bad day for some other reason. Her view on it appeared to be that it was tedious rather than upsetting. She’d had enough and was asking for some help reporting the spam. So I did and tweeted to say I had.
Which then triggered the spambots to target me. Which was tedious rather than upsetting. I think I must have blocked about 40 accounts last night.
I think it’s stopped now.
In any event I managed to get myself called a feminist enabler (whatever that might be). In my book, not the insult the Men’s Right movement might think it is.
when I happened upon someone I follow being abused. She’d trigger some series of twitterbots using hacked accounts with some connection to Operation Men In Charge which were filling her timeline with some foul language, sexual slurs, anti-feminist abuse and what I think are some Men’s Rights Activist / Conservative Christian slogans.
I’m not even sure that it was particularly directed at her politics. Just using her politics as lever to get some jollies out of being rude to someone.
Upsetting but I think ultimately harmless – if you know that it’s not dozens of actual people typing vitriolic hate mail to you and are prepared to wade through hours of profanity. I suspect less harmless if you didn’t know it was just some 12 year old with some script he’d nicked being a dickhead or if you’d had lots of personally targeted abuse in the past or were having a bad day for some other reason. Her view on it appeared to be that it was tedious rather than upsetting. She’d had enough and was asking for some help reporting the spam. So I did and tweeted to say I had.
Which then triggered the spambots to target me. Which was tedious rather than upsetting. I think I must have blocked about 40 accounts last night.
I think it’s stopped now.
In any event I managed to get myself called a feminist enabler (whatever that might be). In my book, not the insult the Men’s Right movement might think it is.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2014-06-18 08:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-18 08:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-18 08:45 am (UTC)I thought it was pretty cynical of the Nay-sayers to give the oxygen of publicity to the nasty tweets on JK Rowling's timeline, and try to portray that as the real face of the Yes campaign. Someone on Radio Scotland compared it to reporting on what was written on toilet walls...
no subject
Date: 2014-06-18 08:50 am (UTC)I’m really not sure what to make of the (mainly) no campaign focus on social media abuse.
If people are horrible to JK Rowling (or knock down some 80 year old Yes campaigner on the Royal Mile) am I supposed to change my vote because of that?
Unless the No campaign is seriously suggesting that the SNP are made up jackbooted bovver boys and a vote for independence is going to result in McCrystal Night I don’t see how it’s relevant.
Politics agitates people. Agitated people do nasty things. Abuse happens on social media. Dog bites man or woman or person who is inter-gender or feminist enabler.
no subject
Date: 2014-06-18 08:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-18 08:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-18 08:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-18 09:51 am (UTC)I've just heard that Aquaman is appearing in the next Batman/Superman/Wonderwoman movie. What's the odds that it's Grim and Gritty Aquaman? It does worry me.
At the same time, though, "Arrow" has introduced the Emerald Archer (as we like to call him) The Black Canary, the Huntress, sundry bad guys and now Barry Allen, all done with cheese and humour. Just how I like my comic book heroes.
no subject
Date: 2014-06-18 10:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-18 11:09 am (UTC)Tortoise Man.
no subject
Date: 2014-06-18 12:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-18 04:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-18 02:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-20 07:59 am (UTC)