Read on Twitter
#NUFC Twitter has been, well, interesting is about as positively as I can describe it this week. No football, lockdown and too much time on our hands and our keyboards. I told myself I'd stay out of it from now but recent developments have changed my mind.
Twitter has 'trolls' - accounts created 11/20 10/20, with an alias, no photo and few followers. Twitter also has people who disagree with you - accounts created years ago, real name, real photo, 100s/1000s of followers. There is a very big difference between the two.
It suits certain people to ignore this difference and remove genuine debate or justified criticism by inferring that all who do not agree with them, praise them, follow them and love them are 'trolls'. The idea being to invalidate their views.
These certain people will then say things like, 'Don't like what I have to say, block me.' A reasonable suggestion on the face of it, until what they are saying becomes inflammatory, abusive or offensive. If everyone blocked and moved on, this behaviour goes unchallenged.
The bigger problem comes when these people then use their status and large following to rally to their cause. If they're rallying to flush out genuine 'trolls', who do nothing but abuse and threaten, that's one thing. If they're rallying to false accusations, that's another.
We all know Toon Polls and some of us know his real name and account. Toon Polls is not a 'troll' account, just as Liam is not a 'troll'. Passive aggressive tweets linking the two accounts to said large following encourages the exact thing these people claim to stand against.
If these people can't take criticism or questions they don't like, they should follow their own advice and block and move on. They should also acknowledge that these actions aren't 'trolling' and not engage in inflammatory behaviour towards innocent people.
Self-promotion is part of Twitter - crack on. If people like these shows and the people on them, great. I'm happy they improve your life and get you through lockdown. But just because you enjoy them, doesn't mean you have to turn a blind eye to their behaviour.
Accounts with that number of followers encouraging pile-ons onto normal people, with names, faces, photos of family, etc. on their profiles is a dangerous game. Perhaps if they engaged with those who politely disagree with them rather than block, they'd realise the difference.
I can't tag this person because he blocked me for asking him a question. Presumably that made me a troll, in his eyes. Feel free to tag him, if you're so inclined. I'm not a troll, obviously. It would be helpful as first step in his recovery if he could see the difference.
