when an account criticizes you on a topic, consider their possible motivations. if the motivations seem genuine, engage. if they don't, mock or block

many trolls with an agenda put signals in their profiles to cosplay as certain nationalities or political backgrounds- fake bona fides

so it can be hard to see where they are really coming from

this is purposeful obfuscation

therefore, allow yourself mistakes

and don't get too emotional or invested, it might be all for naught

my block list is tiny

only stalkers

(people who follow you around seeking insincere conflict)

when i encounter a big fat juicy troll, i smile

and i mock

1. either they block me (which i enjoy)

2. or they reveal enough about where i think they are coming from that i can generate a suspend or limitation on their account. much better than a mere block

if you ask why i would devote so much effort

i simply enjoy it

*especially* vatniks (kremlin disinfo peddlers)

it's not patience. i'm not engaging in a tedious chore

it's mirth. pleasure. it's like getting surprise ice cream

it's simple clean fun to hunt trolls

nail them down on who and what they are (painfully obvious), and let the consequences play out. potentially exulting in ridding mastodon of a twitter type douchebag

you merely feed them rope, and they figuratively hang themselves in their own words

racists, MAGA, vatniks, etc

(only the very obvious assholes)

concern trolls

the tone police

adequacy trolls

these type of trolls are especially fun, they can get emotional quick

you fake accepting their criticism in maudlin gratitude

then concern troll right back. be as patronizing as they are

the higher order the contrived "concern" you generate on them, the better. very dry, high minded intrusion onto other people's behavior is supposed to be their domain. as if they are authority

that tends to enrage them

then it's popcorn time

oh no, i don't preach my behavior as something everyone should do. most consider what i'm talking about a complete waste of time, and they are right, it's a waste of time. a block is the smart quick thing to do

it's just that i enjoy it so damn much. and really, all social media is is a waste of time, people just blowing off steam

so why not hunt some trolls?

but again, that's just my chosen burden to bear, as most would describe it, while i, perhaps perversely, see it as fun

i am an asshole

i wear the label with pride

the behavior is not the problem

who you point the behavior at is

and how you go about it

not getting emotional, and not getting abusive. merely mocking

if you point it only at racists, transphobes, misogynists, homophobes, xenophobes, religion bigots, ethnicity supremacists, fascists, climate change deniers, antivaxx morons, MAGA zombies, vatniks, etc...

all the malicious intent out there

it's a balm on this fucked up world

@MaryAustinBooks @EthicalProfessor

only do this against the painfully obvious

consider it an extended, twisty exercise in calling them out on their bullshit

vacillate between outright mocking and fake friendliness- you're setting the emotional tone rather than following theirs. this is important

lead the convo to the heart of where you think they are coming from

then they put their foot in their mouth

then you report them

often they fall silent or block you

but it does work at times

@benroyce @EthicalProfessor
I used to do this kind of thing pre-Trump. I was actually pretty good with it and de-trollified a number of blogs run by my friends and my favorite journalists.

These days, besides not having the energy sometimes, I feel like everybody is already showing exactly who they are.

Maybe I need to abuse caffeine more, a lot of wild stuff happened under the influence of Monster Zero Ultra.

i did this on twitter. but then musk took over so it didn't work anymore. rather than honing in on one target, suddenly it was zombies everywhere, rather fruitless. twitter moderation died

it only works in the right forum

on mastodon, it works

but i've been noticing less of the very obvious types here. moderation works. you'll be doing it a lot less. the crappy instances out there are hidden from us. so now it's going to be the 2 day old accounts

@MaryAustinBooks @EthicalProfessor

although one time another person and i got in a long back and forth, tag team mocking a 2 year old vatnik account with a good number of followers

we didn't even report them (we were enjoying ourselves too much). but the admin of their instance showed up of their own accord and nuked the account on the spot

i apologized for wasting their bandwidth and that was that

@MaryAustinBooks @EthicalProfessor

one other tip: switch from public to quiet public when you do this

don't pollute your public timeline with this kind of interaction, most of your followers don't want to see this nonsense, and you shouldn't expose them to it

@benroyce

I really appreciate the moderators: they are making our Mastodon experience so much better.
The mods and the ones running the servers are often motivated and devoted.

It's important to realise Mastodon is OURS.
So, if we can afford it, a little financial help goes a long way. This is not the big tech bro situation with so much money they can pull anything out of their asses, this is ours, and we need to protect and help it help us.

@MaryAustinBooks @EthicalProfessor

Hey TB! Sorry, completely forgot to respond.

I was stunned by your 4.5 star rating at the end, given the discussion preceding it. It just seemed like you both wanted it to be something very different than what it is. And most of your discussion focused on the story, so while there was some praise for the craft, it didn't shine through. So I wouldn't say "dismissive", but it seemed like both of you saw this as just a stepping stone to "TV Glow".

Which is perfectly fair! I'm certainly MUCH higher on "World's Fair" than most, so I can't begrudge others for not connecting with as strongly as I did.

Side note: you're not the first people I've heard posit that JLB is a pedophile. My read on him is COMPLETELY different, but I find it fascinating that interpretation comes up repeatedly.

I think he's grieving the loss of a child to the World's Fair challenge, so he's trying to save others.

The room with his computer looks to be a child's bedroom, but there's no other sign of a kid in the house. Also, the house is huge and gorgeous, but it's just him and maybe the woman who appears in the background once (who the credits call "JLB's ???"). He also has this incredibly sad, depressed air about him, never cracking a smile.

As for general thoughts, I have so, so many. =) I'll keep it to my core takeaway.

Schoenbrun is exploring the ways in which the internet has changed our relationship to our sense of self. The internet allows us to interact with people from all over, and even to try on different personalities, whether they come from within or are just immitating others. We get practice putting on various masks, but attention doesn't necessarily lessen your sense of lonliness.