there is a set of Discourse Topics which you can go absolutely out of your way to Perform the Proper Obeisances and precommit to saying "baby don't worry baby i know you're right baby" every other sentence but still if you try to engage with nuance and clarity the wheels fall off
no, I am not going to give examples, because I love myself too much for that, although many of them are political and if you've followed me for any length of time you can make certain inferences, and your inferences will probably be correct
and the thing is, i recognise this pattern at homeopathic dilution, it is bullying. it is a form of social power. i can fully agree with a specific salient claim that they are making, concede that point, and then that is not actually what they meant or where they want to go with it
i will buy your eggs but i will not become your new chicken and it is unreasonable that this has become the foundation of so many goddamned interactions
The discursive discipline required to Exist On The Internet is a burden that cannot fall solely on the shoulders of people who engage in good faith. But the only way you make the other kind play nice is mafia rules (beat the shit out of them with a metaphorical/real bat). Not great.
lmaoooooooooooooooooooooo
discipline
I don't hate waffles, I'm trying to talk about pancakes. It doesn't feel great that you're reframing all my statements into veiled waffle hatred, it doesn't feel great to be prejudged like that and have to overcome that every time I try to talk about pancakes. I'm not a tiger in the bush.
Look, the fact that all these pancake-likers are arguing with me is just proof that I'm correctly doing my job as a journalist, which consists solely of making people angry on social media, not of "reporting facts" or other such silliness.
I get that you want to talk about waffles, want me to just espouse their virtues, but you're so worried about letting the wrong ideas into the conversation that I, who came to talk about pancakes, am spending all my energy fending off accusations of being anti-waffle.
Sometimes it feels like a war of attrition, like the point is to shout someone down with endless accusations, needle them until they reveal that they're not really talking about pancakes, except you really are talking about pancakes. Or you would, if so many people weren't poisoning the well.
My theory is that the constraints of short-form social media encourage people to try and squeeze as much meaning out of every post as possible, which can extend to making inferences about unmentioned groups. It's fascinating to watch but it's also largely why I don't do any writing here.