You may disagree fervently with Pres. Biden's Israel policies, and that's fine. But if you come into my feed calling him "Genocide Joe" or any variation on that theme, you're blocked.
I've already had to block a few accounts for this.
Pres. Biden is not "for genocide." I will not argue with you on this topic, nor do I discuss the Israel/Hamas war here.
But I will not tolerate accusations of "genocide" by Pres. Biden. He's not "pro genocide."
That sounds like MAGAts that trawl for lib accounts to taunt and then getting blocked is somehow....something to preen about? The troll "won"? Won what? Good job, no one cares? People are weird.
@birdpoof@GottaLaff given how ridiculously easy it is to banish them from your sight and they will never see your posts again, I think this "harassment" plan doesn't work, at all. They basically just get to talk to the void and the 12 people who they mutually follow who didn't block them.
On me, is trying to block them without needing to say something snide as the last word. Better to say nothing at all. Practice for me being a better person.
Oh shoot, that reminds me of a comment somewhere (maybe for one of Laffy's other threads) where someone said people who do this are also shoving their views/heckling at the account followers--since the account blocking them won't affect what the followers see. This is probably why trolls show up primarily for the big accounts.
@GottaLaff@birdpoof@Urban_Hermit That’s why I enjoy posts such as this, when the criteria are clear. The post draws trolls like flies. Super easy, if tedious, to block them. So if Laffy’s followers take the hint, we all get the benefit.
I’m getting a necessary blocking blister. What’s with the aggro today? @GottaLaff’s long and historied Twitter reign over trolls is GOAT. I literally joked that she’d had to have had Siberian containment centers built monthly.
This is penny ante for Laffy (fearless leader) but still rankles a bit, I just don’t think we are accustomed to the swarming sensation here.
@birdpoof@Urban_Hermit@GottaLaff But they will only do it once. Unless they get the big account’s followers to follow them. When Laffy blocks someone, I block them as well. She knows a troll when she sees one.
@birdpoof@GottaLaff the beautiful thing is, when GottaLaff blocks a person, they will never see any of GottaLaff's posts ever again. So they won't be leaving comments for GottaLaff and will find it difficult to find those threads, unless they are stalking somebody else individually who comments on those threads.
That, in my opinion, is why it helps us all when we individually block freely. Anybody who starts in with me, or anyone I follow, with an insult or dismissal is worth a block.
You have given me something to think about here. I am a "muter." Life is to short to take time reading someone call me (or anyone else really) names, etc. I usually mute because (and maybe my thinking is wrong here) I thought when you mute someone, the don't know. I always think, "I don't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing I blocked them."
But perhaps blocking, not muting is the way to go.
I also follow/unfollow with abandon. I will follow just about anyone who turns up on my timeline, but if I remember a couple of posts that make me cringe or just whatever, I hit that unfollow button.
@MylesRyden@birdpoof@GottaLaff from fedi.tips "People who are muted will not know they are muted, and they will still be able to follow you, see your posts and interact. Blocking does everything a mute does PLUS also prevents them from following you and hides your posts from them".
So, muting is like putting on a blindfold, but the neighbor still pisses in your garden (they're still in your threads, you just don't know it). Blocking is like they lose your address and can't see your house.
@Urban_Hermit@MylesRyden@birdpoof@GottaLaff I always thought of muting as "This content isn't for me" whereas blocking is "This content creator is actively and intentionally offensive".
@gooba42 It's basically not a judgment call on motivation, but who you want to block from seeing your posts, who you don't want to see ever again, and yes, what you said too. But some I block aren't intentionally offensive, they just ARE offensive. @Urban_Hermit@MylesRyden@birdpoof
It's not as though they're ignorant that they're causing harm, trauma and offense. Moreover trying to talk to them at any length reveals very quickly that they actively enjoy that aspect of their bullshit.
They don't want to be civil, they just know they can't admit that up front and continue their game.
Thank you. I'm going to use your first comment as boilerplate response to these idiots. I used to use David Sedaris's selection of airplane food, "Would you prefer the roasted chicken or a plate of shit with broken glass."
@GottaLaff since essentially none of this is organic, I assume the ringmasters have decided that this kind of angry disruption is useful to them. And so the instructions have gone out to the paid accounts and the bots and the useful idiots follow along ...
@GottaLaff this is a lot of why I left FB years ago. It was sad to see my acquaintances there start spouting this kind of planted nonsense.
Mastodon reminds me of FB sometimes in the degree of political naivety and thus openness to the meme purveyors and the disinformation ratfuckers. But, at least, unlike FB, these people mostly aren't nominally my "friends".
Your account is way more public than mine. I suspect I just get peripheral overflow from the attacks but you're specifically targeted.
I think #filtering them could deny them the satisfaction of distracting you. More experienced #Mastodon users might could help. I don’t use #filters because I enjoy trolling them back. #Filter
@GottaLaff The troll level on Mastodon, particularly on this issue, now meets or exceeds that on former Twitter. Can’t imagine what a cesspool X must be.
An edgelord is a person who attracts attention by saying shocking / stupid / hyperaggressive things. Sometimes harmless, always disruptive, often dangerous.
@GottaLaff
I must have missed all these "genocide Joe" promoters' lauding his pro-Palestinian actions before Hamas attacked Israel on Putin's birthday.
What's interesting is that this post predictably generated a slew of folks who deliberately used the subject term. Once all of them have been blocked the feed is quite reasonable and interesting. Don't be afraid to remove loud noisy nonsense from your social media experience.
What I'm finding odd is that these trolls usually have a few hundred to over a thousand followers, and most of those followers look real. So these shitbag brigaders* are at least somewhat organized, and/or have found each other organically. The good news is it implies there's only a few thousand of them, but I do wish for a megaban feature: block this asshole and everyone following them, unless that follower is someone I'm already following.
*shitbag brigader: left winger who blames everything wrong in the world and their life on the Democrats currently in power, especially those over age 60. Prone to purity posing and absolutist assertions. Typical example is a berniecrat who's still trying to rationalize their refusal to back clinton having resulted in inflicting a mangolini regime on the world.
@GottaLaff its insane how people think that if the US told Israel to stop they'd just be like "okaydokie then, the US has told us to stop so that's that."
@GottaLaff he's not pro genocide, he's just actively arming and running diplomatic cover for genocide not to mention firing missiles at other countries in order to make sure the genocide keeps rolling on.
See the difference? It's in there somewhere...
Biden isn't like Trump. But liberals are absolutely just like conservatives.
@GottaLaff Let’s take a moment to note that anti-Biden trolls on Mastodon often pose as lefties, putting pronouns and alt-text in their bios as camouflage.
Some people are so blinded. Or just plain stupid… had several discussions, trying to explain the complex situation. Whereas some want to force me to take sides…pffffff…
@GottaLaff disagree. Just because you are uncomfortable with the reality that you are going to vote for biden no matter what he does you can't just make it so he didn't actually do the bad things we see him do
@GottaLaff , please block me. Sorry you can't see that your President's support of Israel's so-called attack on Hamas is actually an annihilation of the Palestinian people. No water, no electricity, no sanitation, no medicines, no food, nearly 8000 children dead since 7th October - a genocide!
@GottaLaff@colettesp Love this. Really getting my blocking practice in. I’m rather new to how it’s done in this platform. Block entire instances—wow. I am absolutely vibrating with blocking power right now. (Laffy, don’t block me for commenting so much, you’re just great)
@GottaLaff@fisherstudio I have noticed that if one attempts to comment on this war, then one is either "pro-genocide" or "anti-semitic". Cannot have any form of sensible conversation.
@locksmithprime@GottaLaff Absolutely. I learned this in the 90s and again in the 00s and 10s. Had I been an adult in the 60s–80s I might have learned it earlier. No surprise that any take in public will be met with death threats and RICO lawsuits (somehow) in the 20s because this is how we are.
@fisherstudio@GottaLaff I have somehow come to peace with the fact that my posts in Mastodon will eventually land me in trouble, at least have me fired. Or they will instead land me a very prominent career... nah, most likely I am simply digging my own grave. Oh well.
@GottaLaff How about the long form, "By avoiding condemnation of Israeli policy in Gaza, President Biden could be seen as facilitating the current Israeli military action, which some have argued is genocidal". Would that be OK?
@GottaLaff
Yes.
It was easy for me to phrase the concept neutrally. But I'm guessing that at least in some cases the offensive labeling might be more personal in origin, for example, if it came from someone who had lost civilian relatives In Gaza and was aghast at the president's moderate public position on that subject. I might even be enraged.
I've been very active on social media since 2008. I know how it works. I don't get angry at people who come at me with reason, empathy, rational thought, different opinions, respect.
I get mad when they label, especially wrongly, name-call, are uncivil, taunt, provoke, and troll.
@GottaLaff
Totally agree. I have gotten rid of some people I know because of their insane rhetoric. I agree with a ceasefire and other things, but the violent and dangerous demonization of anyone who does not act exactly as they demand shows how manipulated they are by our enemies seeking division. They will divide the left and get the fascist #DonTheCon into office. They don't care. Will we learn how to not get played? We need lessons from Ukrainians on how to deal with disinformation ops.
@GottaLaff Exactly so. It's a sophistication thinking level of kindergartener. I wish people would apply more rigorous and in-depth analysis to their political positions. Especially with right wing extremism banging at the door globally.
@otownKim@GottaLaff He is funding genocide. He may be the lesser of two evils for the US but I similarly have a very low tolerance of folks defending state sponsorship of genocide. I realise Brown folks in the Middle East don’t have much value in the eyes of the US but it doesn’t mean we’re without value or that we have to tolerate white USians denying genocide while tens of thousands lie dead with more to follow.
@GottaLaff It is NOT on me. Unfortunately, we have a twisted version of democracy here in the US and the two options we have in terms of parties both seek to keep the ruling class of capitalists in power. Perpetual wars and the entire situation in the middle east is a result of this and Joe Biden is actively perpetrating this incredibly violent system. Every US president is a violent criminal responsible for the deaths of swathes of innocent workers and the Democratic party has no exceptions.
For sure, I wasn't disagreeing with your decisions or calling the trolls here trolls, no disagreement there. Biden doesn't support genocide anymore than I do - and I don't.
It's very effective propaganda though, and it's important folks are seeing why. It makes them feel self-righteous to repeat it, that's highly effective. Causes arguments and infighting. Effective.
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