Today I had to ban the first troll from the official RyanSchultz.com Discord server, for posting racist and homophobic statements and then denying she had said anything wrong (i.e. gaslighting). I am getting truly fed up with the amount of hate and prejudice I am beginning to see on most social media, and I will not hesitate to pull out the banhammer if I see it erupt on my Discord. This person was banned and all her posts deleted.
My rules for the RyanSchultz.com Discord include the following statement which I essentially lifted verbatim from Linden Lab:
Intolerance: This server encourages social interactions between users across multiple countries. The use of derogatory or demeaning language or images based on race, ethnicity, gender, religion or sexual orientation is prohibited. Actions that marginalize, belittle, or defame users or groups are similarly prohibited. Hate speech of any kind is prohibited.
I have frankly had enough of the toxic stew that many social media platforms have become. I have left Facebook, and Google+ will soon shut down. I have, for own sanity, blocked Donald Trump on Twitter, and I am spending a lot less time there (although I do still cross-post my blogposts there, and I will continue to do so). I feel like taking a good, long vacation from all social media, except my blog and my Discord. I may just do that.
I think we all need to stop and think hard about this monster we have all had a part in creating and sustaining, and what kind of negative impact it is having on society. Some people feel they now have a platform to spread misinformation, lies, and hatred with impunity, and we must all do our part to stand up, call them on their bullshit, and put a stop to it.
Ryan, Social media has so much potential and for a while it was actually a good way to learn something new or interesting. But today it has become such a hate filled swamp that for my sanity I no longer use social media or bother with the comments on YouTube or even the political sites I subscribe to. With political sites often it isn’t even an actual person but some bot spamming the site with something like, “Mike your a f***ing qu*** a** hole!” I had to work trying to get the “your” rather than “you’re.” Misspellings and grammars mistakes are very prevalent among some groups. Apparently they haven’t heard of grammar or even spell checkers.
Tell me about it!! People are so toxic that I have to block a lot of content. Social media for me however is invaluable as I use it to keep in touch with my family and friends around the work. (The rl not my avatar connections)
I find amongst the avatar connections the fact that many are faceless they seem to feel they can bully and be mean. I find trolls people with little going for them who lack imagination and creativity. I’ve learnt to blissfully ignore my trolls and that is like a vacuum to them.