How Do We Determine Legitimate Criticism from Trolling? And Does Free Speech Make It All Okay?
What constitutes legitimate and important criticism and what crosses the line into trolling? Or is it all covered by valid free speech rights…ergo, everything and anything goes? Finally, does the source and subject matter change the equation?
KNEE JERK MEGA ALERT….please do not comment on people or specific situations, that’s not my point. It’s irrelevant to the discussion. Instead, help me with your comments and POVs.
I often write and ask IMAGINE questions inspired by events of the day.?
My inspiration this week was prompted by Elon Musk appointing Linda Yaccarino as Twitter’s CEO.?
Linda is my friend…colleague…like me, a former Chair of the Ad Council, and someone with whom I have collaborated on important programs of social activism.?
This IMAGINE is not about her. It is, however, about the reaction to her appointment and my fear that many, even in our own Advertising/Marketing community, crossed the line of legitimate questions, criticism, and even disapproval, and dove into the muck and mire of plain old trolling…sniping…pigeon shitting…and general unprofessional commenting.?
And, of course, the story does begin with a non-trolling view of Elon Musk.?
For years I have been writing about Elon Musk and calling attention to the art of his disruption.
One can only wonder what the state of the EV market would be if, for example, Ford had been allowed to pursue EVs without worrying about profit for the 17 years granted Musk. Maybe nowhere…as I’m sure some will say…but who really knows. The disruptive power of a blank checkbook and no Wall Street scrutiny, beyond hyping their own investments, is pretty powerful.?
That being said, it’s hard not to call him an inspiring visionary. Yet, moving back to disruption, he knows how to use his vision to juice his holdings—as the SEC made clear when they charged him with Civil Securities Fraud in response to said Tweets that did just that.
Recently I heard him say that he bought Twitter because he increased its market cap because of his Tweets…he neglected to remind the audience of the increase in his own wealth due to the same Tweets…so it goes.?
Yet people—liberals, conservatives, Democrats, and Republicans—buy his cars, invest in his stocks, and he does remain fair game to criticism, as such out-there public figures are…often suffering the slings and arrows of trolling….as he sometimes slings at others.
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Then he appointed Linda and, in my view, the safeguards crumbled as the trolls pulled down the safety net.
Who knew that she was really a Trumper; a Right Wing Maga Republican; A Biden acolyte; a woke liberal media elite; a Covid Vax lover; and on and on? Conspiracy is rampant, and it's been a while since I’ve seen such polar opposite views about the same person…oh wait!! Maybe she’s really two people…doppelgangers sowing discord and confusion.?
Yet, what I found to be most distasteful were the posts that called Musk a Fascist, for example, and let the reader make the connection to Yaccarino by association.?
My published view for years has been that all Social Media is out of control and that Mark Z is no better than Elon Musk when you really get right down to it. Let’s be clear: Meta promotes as much hate as Twitter.?
I also wonder about the so-called progressives who stay on Twitter and pay for their blue status…what’s that about??
It's a vicious world out there. We all don’t agree…nor should we. Absolute right? Absolute wrong? Beyond my pay grade. I just know that civil discourse, legitimate discussion, and respectful criticism are critical to a future where the trolls don’t win. It's been my observation that most of us aren’t trolls, it's just easy to fall into the trap.
Back to my questions:
The bottom line is, few have the total franchise on good or bad behavior these days…but do seek out those who skew away from the dark side of trolling, no matter your view of their positions. Perhaps together we can return some semblance of respect for people to social media and relegate the trolls to where they belong…see Lord Of The Rings for reference…
Give Linda Yaccorino a chance since she seems to cover so much to the right and left…get my drift??
And remember, #thinkbeforeyoushare. At the end of the day, my friends, it’s us…we are the enemy…not Musk, Zuck, or Yaccarino. We use the platforms, encouraging the bad behavior to proliferate.?
We need to educate our children, align ourselves, and demand some kind of accountability. Let’s be clear: with the US Presidential race heating up, it’s going to get worse. We need to act.
We can start here.
What’s your view?
I am a pragmatically creative product and project manager with a specialty in advertising and marketing data
1 年In theory, lies, disinfo etc... should be avoided and shunned. Unfortunately, as we have seen, "your lies = my truth". It amazes me how see something so clearly in others we cannot see in ourselves. I have always tried to live by the rule that criticism needs to be (a) respectful, (b) constructive, (c) done in a way that it is possible that the one to whom it is directed will benefit from it in a positive way. If the person can't/won't receive it then the comments are counterproductive. (I hope that's not too Talmudic an approach).
Civil and Human Rights Advocate, Mental Health Advocate, Retired Human Resources Executive
1 年This is an extraordinarily big package to unpack but I'd like to try to unpack a little at a time. So-called free speech: Lies, threats, disinformation, slander...reasonable people should have limits. For-profit organizations should be particularly accountable for evidence based communications and absence of violent rhetoric. Tolerance of same is like dangling a burning match above a container of highly flammable and explosive liquid. At any moment a catastrophic event could occur. A sane society should protect itself from such destruction.
I run a global all-girl think tank driving the next wave of Intelligence, Innovation, technology and consumer growth. 0. 12.24 THE ASCENT BEGINS.
1 年David Sable intention
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1 年This actually does sometimes serve a purpose. It has the ability to make people more emotionally intelligent and provoke empathy. For example, everything that has been happening lately has provoked revolutions that hopefully fix these situations. So when someone is trolled, when other people care, it causes a situation where people think or stand up for that person. It is MUCH worse when it is brushed under the rug.
HR’s Secret Weapon | Growing talent and coaching leaders to build cultures people don’t want to leave.
1 年Well, When it comes to trolling, these attacks aim to weaken not only the credibility of people who are attacked but also what they stand for. Simply, trolling is a business model — they are weaponizing and monetizing hate, at the expense of social cohesion and democracy.