@Gargron The Wil Wheaton drama coupled with the hoards of John McCain "shitposting" (honestly some of the rudest messages I've ever seen on social media) really turned me off from the so-called good qualities this website offered. Corporatized Twitter sucks, but mob-fueled digitized verbal lynching is not a proper or coherent rival. Maybe social media in general needs revitalization and not half-hearted attempts at becoming the "next big thing" in the short attention span of the internet.

@Gargron To summarize, the site has evolved from a good-natured alternative into a "you're either with us or fuck you" social club that seems to exist solely to make fun of those who don't agree, constantly bring up "the problems" with "birdsite", and circlejerk pointless information for the rip-off "toots" that rarely exist as the site is split off into different sub-communities that do not seem to interact - yet all serve the same purpose.

@Gargron Also - basic sociology - when too many categories are created, those categories become worthless. The overuse of content warnings on this site break the overall flow of the timelines and creates a terrible situation where "if everything is content warning'd, then nothing is content warning'd at all."

@josephkaminski ...are you serious? simply "being rude" in the abstract isn't against the rules, john mccain was unequivocally a terrible person, and using the cw feature is a courtesy just like adding an email subject line

@trwnh did you not see the majority of the posts that I did? It went further than "being rude". Treating someone as entirely inhumane for being a "terrible person" (which I agree, he was) does not make you self-righteous and good-hearted.

@josephkaminski well, that's a matter where many people will disagree with you. there's no love lost for war criminals, bigots, and oppressors.

@trwnh it is entirely hypocritical of someone to treat their enemies in such a way when they would freak out if their enemies treated them the same way. You do not have to respect someone to be humane in discussion. I do not like McCain, but the "I wish I could have killed him before brain cancer could", "fuck him and his entire bloodline", and even worse thoughts that I will not write here is not a good way to show that you do not like somebody. That is the first step to an Us vs Them society.

@josephkaminski Here's a counterargument: marginalized people are already treated terribly, and they owe no civility to their oppressors. As for the last bit, well... "the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles." Conflict between oppressor and oppressed didn't just spring into being because some smarmy old todger died. Your analysis is lacking any consideration for power dynamics and "punching up".

@trwnh being the bigger person takes effort, being the bigger person through proving the other side wrong with logic, reasoning, and humanity changes the world. Putting a communist symbol in a username to be edgy and calling someone a derogatory word (ironically on a safe-space site dedicated to CW) takes no effort and makes no difference in the world and only leads to distancing "power dynamics" among different sides.

@josephkaminski Logic and reasoning are weaknesses to be exploited by those who don't believe in them. The fact that you think things are "edgy" or "derogatory" and that you call this a "safe space" are clear signals of your politics, so I'll only say this: there is no irony here. It's not toxic or harassing to speak negatively of a terrible person among comrades, especially not a dead one.

@trwnh The political "definition" of safe space, the one you are clinging onto and believe I am referring to, is not the actual definition. I am actually a registered Secular Safezone and LGBT Advocacy Safespace recipient as I took intensive diversity courses to earn said placards. You're failing to see that I am not right-wing. I'm an educator with a passion for diversity and inclusion - something mastadon's social server has failed to believe in.

@josephkaminski I'm going to speak plainly: no joke about McCain's death can ever be remotely as toxic as even a *fraction* of what most of us received daily on Twitter. There is simply no comparison to be made. "Diversity and inclusion" cannot include bigots and abusers, point blank.

@trwnh and I never claimed it should. Diversity + inclusion means looking at the perspective of bigots and abusers, pointing out what is directly wrong with them, + educating people about the aspects of tolerance + humanity that would eradicate said bigotry through diversity, multiculturalism, open thoughts. Ironically enough, you're fighting with me over a thought - a direct consequence of ingrouping. And I'll reiterate - what I saw on Mastodon that day was worse than any other social platform.