Social media can be a useful tool. It is a useful tool which I use to entertain, educate and inform myself and my friends.
There are, of course, many low-end idiots and trolls in the world. Far too many of them have Internet connections, and their toxicity doesn’t contribute to my goals: they do not entertain, educate or inform me or my friends. Curating that negativity out of my life makes for a happier and more productive life – one less infected by the anger of (usually) old men.
Looking at the people that I’ve removed from my social media interactions, there seems to be a significant overrepresentation of anonymous trolls, and I don’t think I’ve ever met any of those people in person. I suspect that having real names associated with social media is positively correlated with educational, entertaining and informative content. I think that seeing the participants of online discussions as real people who can have healthy and good faith disagreements is helpful, and creates more educational, entertaining and informative discussions.
Some toxic behaviour that I despise, and increases the chance of me blocking someone on social media.
Anonymity
There are a lot of low-end idiots who post anonymously on the internet. They are often moral cowards, who have no skin in the game. People who make dumb comments often know that they are making dumb comments, and do not want to be held accountable for the dumb comments that they make. Hence, many of the jackwads illustrated below have posted anonymously. Cut them out of your social media feeds.
Tagging people in comments or replies to comments to try to start an online fight
Spreading false and lunatic conspiracy theories
False and defamatory accusations
If I was a rich man, I’d probably litigate against these losers. But I’m not, so Que Sera, Sera…
Advocate for evil and genocidal ideologies
11 October 2021 Update: I added the subtitle, and some examples of toxic behaviour that are often catalysts for me blocking people.
4 April 2022 Update: Added “Advocate for evil and genocidal ideologies”
9 February 2024 update: Added new image header, fixed some grammar in the opening paragraphs.
