Why would you follow an account like that, being a public figure, if you disagree with its contents?
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Ginjutsu@lemmy.world 11 months agoScumbaggery aside, I find it incredibly disheartening that just following an account these days will paint a giant red target on you. I really despise what social media has done to us.
dandi8@kbin.social 11 months ago
whatsarefoogee@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Because it’s healthy to read and understand the thinking of the people who disagree with you.
If their arguments are irrational and the information they use is incorrect, you will get a better insight of how they came to forming their wrong views. It can help you avoid doing the same, and it can help you in arguing for your position.
On the flip side, if you find that their arguments are solid and based on facts, you might be convinced to change your wrong views.
I don’t see how being a public figure should any difference to what I stated. Besides appeasing the crowd, I suppose, which isn’t a good reason to do anything.
dandi8@kbin.social 11 months ago
You can visit a page from time to time to get 'better insight into how they formed their opinions'. If you're actively following it, that means you want to see everything they have to say, as soon as they say it (and you're boosting their follower count), and that's no longer defensible.
Plus, there would be at least some evidence of the guy arguing for trans people if that was the case.
'Following', for most people, translates to 'things I'm interested in'. Are you really claiming there's nothing at least suspicious in the statement "I'm interested in limiting trans rights"?
Lastly, they are free to correct any misconceptions publicly. Did he? Nope, just went on to criticize the medical industry and praise Jordan Peterson.
Veraticus@lib.lgbt 11 months ago
Are people simply not supposed to use the things you do as evidence of the person you are?
Ginjutsu@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see “following” as an endorsement at all. To me, it’s an incredibly passive action which affects nothing but a near-meaningless internet number and the content which shows up in your feed. For example, I follow over 3000 accounts on one of my social media profiles. Do my views need to perfectly align with every single one of those? When does it become not okay to follow someone?
My point is, people can follow a page for a multitude of reasons. I follow several online accounts and politicians specifically because I disagree with the content they post. I personally think it’s better to know what your enemy is up to rather than to stick your head in the sand and pretend they don’t exist.
whatsarefoogee@lemmy.world 11 months ago
No, you’re a normal person.
The internet politics have just turned to rabid purity testing, where even reading what the opposition (of any issue) says is considered endorsement and betrayal.
A sane person will look abnormal in an insane asylum. And I don’t know how to better describe Twitter than an insane asylum.
Veraticus@lib.lgbt 11 months ago
No, definitely not.
When their objectionable opinions are pointed out to you and you seem to be basically okay with it. For example, not unfollowing the person, not stating your disagreement with said objectionable opinions, or offering why you think whatever they posted does not actually contain said objectionable opinion.
On Twitter, a follow is viewed as a passive endorsement that you like someone’s content and want to see more of it. You can disagree with this but I think that’s fighting an uphill battle. I mean, it’s 2023, Twitter is two decades old, and as far as I know this cultural more has been true for most of that time.
You don’t have to follow people to see their content, after all. It is a positive act which does mean something, and I’ve described what it typically means in the vocabulary of the Internet.