I'm not on twitter, so don't feel I can say much about the bullying that goes on there. But I wonder what you think they should do to address this, exactly? If they remove those 'bullying' posts, they'll be accused of interfering with "free speech" and the people prone to bullying will go to Reddit (I suppose they're already there), FB, snapchat, instagram, etc., - wherever they feel they can express their disapproval.
Twitter already has a zero tolerance policy in regard to speech they consider transphobic. Why can't they do the same in regard to violent misogyny?
I think there are a lot of moderate people in the world; I think they're the majority. I also think they're the ones least likely to engage in conflict online, so the majority of what we see in the online world are the extremes of any viewpoint. It's easy to forget that those are not really representative of what most people think. I think its easy to see a problem as bigger than it is, if too much attention is paid to what is happening online. It also seems to me that what was big news/scandal/event in the online world this week is practically forgotten in a few months time.
I do think that for the most part people overestimate how much power these online mobs actually have. Pen1s News has been gleefully predicting the demise of JKR's book sales due to the online controversy; her books have actually surged in popularity (with the help of the pandemic of course). Angry incel dudes organized boycotts and review-bombing for Captain Marvel; it was a gigantic hit.
But, if you're a small business or a private citizen, can you risk it?
I think at some point, companies, not media companies, but just regular companies, will have to take a stand about firing as a result of social media mob action. They should, perhaps, devise a 'standard' for which people can be fired - outright cruelty to animals, making death threats, online or not, getting arrested for racism, spousal abuse, sexual assault - but not for being mobbed on Twitter or any other platform for an expressed opinion. I think more moderate people should find a way to speak up if they see mobbing on social media - but I don't have much hope for that, since yeah - who likes to deal with all that conflict? Not many.
If you run a pub near campus, and students come to you and say "this employee of yours said some very hateful things on social media, and we are organizing a student boycott unless you fire her," wouldn't that be scary? You could talk to your employee and get her side of the story, but if you decide that what she said isn't something she should be fired over... what then? Can you risk losing the business from the college students? You could hope that they're bluffing, or that most of the college students wouldn't actually know or care that there's a boycott going on. And it might turn out that way... but what if it didn't?
There is a lot about social media that has to change, but I do think the priority has to be the spread of misinformation online. It's not that this issue of online bullying/cancel culture isn't important, but in my view it's less of a priority than misinformation that can cause rather more societal harm than whether JK Rowling (or anyone else) loses book sales.
I agree. The potential to impact elections, the spread of conspiracy theories and false medical information, there are potentially some very dangerous things going on.
Btw, as a result of this thread and in a roundabout way her attackers, I'll be looking to read her new series. Kind of an unintended consequence of this, eh?
Me too. I have never bought a JKR book before, but what I've heard about her current "Robert Galbraith" books did make me somewhat interested. The new one is apparently selling very well for the moment, in spite of (or perhaps with the help of) the controversy.
-k