Abuse and criticism are not the same

Why do so many intelligent adults transform into angry adolescents as soon as they pick up a smartphone?

I am forever complaining about the poor standards of online debate. I take the view that the overwhelming majority of social media arguments would dissipate in an instant if the participants were to sit together over a glass of crème de menthe and discuss the matter calmly. There is something about the digital medium that encourages the needless escalation of emotions, and renders normally rational people the equivalent of truculent teenagers.

This is as good a reason as any to avoid engaging on X. Although I don’t use the site as much as I used to, I have been lured back to it in my typical blundering way. In spite of the innumerable pile-ons I have experienced, and the continual misrepresentations of my views, I stupidly retain a sense of faith in humanity, and I do not believe that even the most abusive of individuals is beyond redemption. There’s a famous definition of insanity as “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”. I’m afraid I might be guilty as charged, although there is still some hope that I haven’t been driven wholly demented by this culture war quite yet.

I previously wrote about a particularly nasty pile-on that I received at the hands of some gender-critical feminists who were angry that I had - on a few occasions, in the distant past, in the privacy of my own home - referred to trans-identifying friends by their preferred pronouns. I have always chosen my own words as I see fit, and I don’t react well to those who attempt to coerce me - either by threats or mudslinging - into speaking a certain way. That’s the giveaway sign that you’re dealing with an authoritarian.

Of course, anyone is entitled to criticise me however they see fit. And while I always welcome polite disagreement (which was certainly the approach of the majority of my critics on the night of this pile-on), I do draw the line at those who resort to phrases such as “fuck you”, “I hate gay men”, “fag”, “pervert”, “liar”, “grifter”, “misogynist” and other variations on this theme. I ended up blocking dozens of these accounts, but others rapidly took their place. Such is the nature of the mob mentality.

I do wonder what purpose such individuals think they are fulfilling?