Ignore it or Call it out?

Question

If people who have influence and power start espousing abhorrent or dangerous views or thoughts using social media, should people speak up to condemn it? Or should they quit giving them an audience by refusing to repeat/spread/discuss them and their ideas? 
I'm seeing people being condemned for "remaining silent" and also seeing people condemned for "giving legitimacy."

Answer

Oh this is a difficult one.  It really depends on exact details. Particularly if people are acting out of ignorance or bad faith. 
The recent example of Lizzo changing a song lyric went about as positively as we could possibly hope for. She got called out for using a slur, she educated herself on something she wasn’t previously aware of, and responded with an apology and correction. Perfect. We can’t expect all people to know all the things. Alerting them. and going from there sometimes is the wisest course of action. 
Conversely, others know exactly what they’re doing, and why it’s wrong. They want the attention. They want the drama. Responding only feeds it. I hate to bring up Trump, but I really can’t think of a better example. Straight removing him from twitter, and letting him scream in to the void of Truth Social is so much better than everyone having to constantly deal with the fallout from what he tweeted this time. 
I will say that celebrities aside, I do believe in collateral education. Sometimes I’m debating someone in here with the full knowledge they will not budge an inch, even if they’re completely wrong. I also know others read along, and posting facts backed up by valid sources may educate someone reading along with an open mind. Remaining silent will do nothing. 
This far extends beyond social media into real life too. There’s been a lot of debate about how to handle nazi rallies as one example. Is it better to stage protests/counter protests against them, or to ice them out? Give them no attention, no media coverage, and refuse them service is stores when possible? I don’t know, I’ve seen both methods attempted, and it seems like nothing really works either way.

Answer

I fall into a case-by-case position.
The elderly lady in line today, spewing false hateful claims of Obama. I’m going to sit that one out. Not going to start a fight in Sédanos with Abuelita, unless she addressed me directly.
Racist/false/rude comments on social media, definitely get called out when it’s on someone I’m following, or a sponsored/advertisement in my feed.
For a weirdo spewing bullshit on account I don’t follow, I likely wouldn’t give it my time at all. I don’t want to mess my algorithm to bring more unwanted content, nor give the perpetrator the ‘views’ which give them credibility. However, I applaud the people taking on the trouble to call out hateful shit everywhere. It’s important to do, and it comes with sacrifice of deteriorating mental health. That takes a heavy toll to spend your free time educating hateful people. Getting personally attacked… it sucks. Not everyone can take that on.

Answer

Great topic!  
For me, it’s a case by case basis and it also depends on if I’m being triggered to react or take time to respond.  
If I am responding, I will do so with whatever way I believe will have the most helpful impact and sometimes responding to someone with silence gets the point across better than saying anything.  
On a larger, more general scale, with celebrities etc. I think as a whole we need to speak out, despite the consequences more attention might bring.  And I believe this because as a whole I have to have hope that there is more good than evil (otherwise I’ll lose my mind) and have to believe that the good will eventually be at a place where evil cannot raise to meet it equally.

Answer

I think the new trend with expecting people to speak up about every single thing happening in the world right now is getting to be too much. Idk who or what you’re exactly talking about, but I always see this being said about celebrities and influencers. We need to stop looking at celebrities and influencers as news sources, politicians, or activists. People are damned if they do, damned if they don’t. Speak up or else you’re part of the problem, but not like that, but have you even donated??? It just gets to be too ridiculous. And what good does posting to Instagram, Facebook, etc do? What good does donating do? You can’t always guarantee what the money is being used for when you donate. I think society has gotten to a really dumb place. We should not be looking to people who make movies or post the best Black Friday deals on Instagram to form our opinions about hot topics.

Answer

Idk. 
Silence can be violence, but…I genuinely don’t believe remaining quiet means one is always complicit. I’ve remained silent and done other things to combat the issue. Yes, speak up when one can, especially within interpersonal interactions. 
With the rise of fascism it’s important to review resistance tactics. Voicing opinions and being noisy is only a tiny facet of fighting the good fight, and it’s usually an early tactic. Once the regime is in power, being noisy may destroy the cause. Resistance fighters did shit some social justice folks would cringe at today, but sometimes you have to be problematic to survive. 
Social media call outs…I’m generally wary of. I followed someone who got called out, turns out, it was a scam. Almost ruined their life; they got death threats. That’s not restorative justice. That’s groupthink and something I’d expect of puritans, not leftists. 
If someone I know or witness first-hand do or say something, yeah, I’ll talk with them. Will I make a media scene? No, I don’t find that helpful. Generally, dog-piling on someone doesn’t get them to change their mind, and it can drive them further into dark places.

Answer

This is a really good question and i'm not sure I have an answer. On one hand, voices expressing hate and bigotry are often amplified even more when people speak out and give them negative attention, but on the other hand what does staying silent accomplish? Staying silent only serves to normalize it. 
Has anyone on Reddit seen the r/kanye sub in the past few days? The sub has transformed into a Holocaust memorial and I think it's a really great way of handling things. Rather than giving Kanye negative attention, the sub is being used to educate people on the Holocaust. And maybe that's the key - education versus attention. 
I also agree with other people here who have pointed out no one has time to constantly speak out online, and there's seriously something new and controversial coming out every single day. It's extremely draining. Instead, getting offline and offering your time and energy in person to some sort of cause is probably time better spent.

Answer

No matter how you react to things like that, someone will find fault in it. Not everyone has the mental bandwidth to constantly fight and engage on Twitter or publicly speak out about every single matter. It doesn’t mean they don’t care. I don’t even have Twitter nor will I ever. I also don’t use my social media for discussing things like that, I just use it to share my life with friends and family I don’t see often. A lot of celebrities do the same.

Answer

We definitely need to speak up! Ignoring a problem doesn’t make it go away. These hate groups have thrived in the shadow of anonymity for centuries without consequences. Unveil them and judge them for who they are!

Answer

I think the idea that people/celebrities have to give an opinion or make a statement siding with the mainstream whenever there is a controversy is really ridiculous. People absolutely have the right to keep their thoughts to themselves and if the mainstream has an issue with a controversial person they should go and debate that person instead of getting mad at other people for not taking their side.

Answer

You are the only one who decides what gets your energy and what doesn’t. You cannot blame any other target for a misuse of your personal energy.

Ignore it or Call it out?

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