Ok I want to address what many have asked.

Why do I push back against hashtag activism?

It is not based on "jealousy" (that honestly doesn't make any sense) but a genuine concern for the polarisation of discourse. So let me explain.

To start with, hashtags do have utility in uniting a message. The #MeToo movement was crucial in allowing women around the World to share stories on a common theme.

It meant millions of women could literally speak as one and men like me were hit with a unified loud message.

But there is an important distinction between that and recent manifestations; they had a message to share. The message wasn't the hashtag.

It wasn't that a hashtag was trending, it was the story around the hashtag.

So what is the issue here?

Getting abusive hashtags trending doesn't unite people behind a message, it is literally collective name calling.

To those already on your side, they might find it funny.

To everyone else, it appears juvenile and immediately detracts from any message you might actually have.

But most importantly, it leads to polarisation. This is my biggest concern.

Think about when #DictatorDan was trending. What affect did this have? It contributed to the rise of the DanStan.

The immediate defence I keep hearing for extreme behaviour in support of Dan is the fact that it was justified because of the unfair personal attacks he received.

Of course a lot of these attacks came from the media, but it was also the #DictatorDan hashtag that led to the #IStandWithDan retort.

Two groups no longer discussing issues, but instead seeking to have their hashtag trend higher as though that meant more.

I have repeated a number of times now, Australia is not like the US. Compulsory voting means there is little to be gained from mobilising a base.

We have to appeal to the middle. We have to actually convince them that our arguments make more sense.

This is why, much to my own detriment, I push back on false narratives against the LNP if they are so easily disprovable that it delegitimises everything else we say.

It is also why I want to clearly distinguish the activism I support from those that believe getting #ScottyTheFukwit trending is endearing our side of politics to anyone.

I know I anger a lot of people on here every time I push back on these accounts, I know first hand how vitriolic their followers are... which is precisely why I don't want to be associated with it.

It is damaging our message, but most importantly, it is only going to trigger an equally vitriolic response from those on the other side.

We are losing the ability to speak to each other, and this kind of "activism" is one of the reasons why.