deemyJul 12, 2024
Niléane

LGBT and Marginalized Voices Are Not Welcome on Threads https://www.macstories.net/stories/lgbt-and-marginalized-voices-are-not-welcome-on-threads/

Here’s a story that I wish I didn’t have to write. But it’s high time that we make this a central point anytime, anywhere Threads is pictured as a decent alternative to Twitter and Mastodon. It is only that if you’re a straight, white male.

@macstories

LGBT and Marginalized Voices Are Not Welcome on Threads

<p>As Twitter was crumbling under Elon Musk’s new leadership in 2023, various online circles found themselves flocking to alternative platforms. While some may have kept using Twitter (now known as… X), a non-negligible number of communities migrated over to Mastodon and other smaller platforms. Meanwhile, Meta shipped its own textual social media platform, Threads. The...</p>

Jul 12, 2024 at 3:02pmWeb
Show threadNiléaneJul 12, 2024
Welp, that's one way to prove my point.
Show threadHiroJul 12, 2024

@nileane So interesting that people like that never use their real names when sending messages like that... almost like they don't want to be treated the way they're treating others.

I'm really truly sorry you have to deal with stuff like that, Nileane. You don't deserve it. Your message is important.

Show threadNiléaneJul 12, 2024
@hiro Thank you <3.
Yeah these people are often the definition of hypocrisy.
Show threadCaliJul 13, 2024
@nileane @hiro dang. For all the good we get on the nest, there’s always a contingent of folks that just want it “for normal, people. Ya know people like us.” They gesture to the whitest most cis folks ever.
Show threadMrCopilotJul 12, 2024

@hiro @nileane MACTORIES?

The place with the suicide nets? To each their own, I guess, will indeed leave you alone, but not the typical tourist destination.

Show threadMarquis Kurt [Hiatus]Jul 12, 2024
@nileane Well I suppose they spell their name with numbers or symbols instead of letters, then, since the alphabet is too horrifying for them.
Show threadMarquis Kurt [Hiatus]Jul 12, 2024

@nileane Seriously, though, they can fuck off.

(Redrafted to fix visibility)

Show threadOblomovJul 12, 2024

@me @nileane

I'm seriously having troubles understanding what “alphabet freak” is supposed to refer to.

Show threadLisPiJul 12, 2024
@oblomov @nileane @me It's supposed to refer to "LGBT" and similar acronyms, rather than those designating actual freaks and murderers like CIA, FBI & similar.
Show threadOblomovJul 12, 2024
@lispi314 @me @nileane ah, of course.
Show threadKraftwerk-Das Model CollapseJul 14, 2024
@lispi314 @oblomov in what I can only describe as a sweet summer child moment I briefly thought this person was angry about LLM spam and meant alphabet the company
Show threadJustin MyersJul 12, 2024

@oblomov @me @nileane
It's a reference to the collection of initialisms that refer to queer people, such as LGBTQ+ and its various ancestors and descendants.

"Alphabet Mafia" is an umbrella term I've heard used both in a derogatory sense and in a reclaimed sense—and I've seen at least one pride enamel pin that depicted a bowl of alphabet soup, although I can't find a link now for the life of me.

edit: found it!
https://heckinunicorn.com/products/lgbtq-alphabet-soup-keychain

LGBTQ+ Alphabet Soup — keychain

Show threadOblomovJul 12, 2024
@myersjustinc @me @nileane oh wow, had never heard it before. Thanks.
Show threaditgrrl Jul 16, 2024

@myersjustinc @oblomov @me @nileane

that keychain is 👩‍🍳💋!

grabbed the gif for future use 🙃

Show threadOblomovJul 16, 2024
@itgrrl @myersjustinc @me @nileane ROTFL that's brilliant.
Show threadbook dragonJul 12, 2024

@nileane oh dear, i wish this wasn’t so expected.

really sorry that you will have to deal with this shit on top of everything else.

Show threadChristopher LawleyJul 12, 2024
@nileane This person can go fuck right off.
Show threadAaron  Jul 12, 2024

@nileane I find it amusing how the people who are the most “secure” in their values are the ones most “offended” when they see something they don’t like.

May that person suck a bag of dicks.

Show threadFluffy Kitty CatJul 12, 2024
@Aaron @nileane as a very marginalized person I literally can't do that, else I'd always been offended 24/7 by a world that's actively hostile to my existence. these chucklefucks seek us out to get offended at us
Show threadAaron  Jul 12, 2024

@fluffykittycat @nileane It’s ridiculous that people have such outrage over other people simply existing. It kills me that people who are marginalized have to feel threatened daily for just being.

I’m sorry that idiots have to make life so hard for you and others. Nobody deserves that.

Show threadFluffy Kitty CatJul 12, 2024
@Aaron @nileane I feel like a weed growing out of a crack in the sidewalk, hoping to go undisturbed and not get doused in herbicide
Show threadMichael GemarJul 12, 2024
@nileane @joesteel It’s just so frickin’ *weird* that these people are obsessed with what other folks are doing.
Show threadRamón 🇨🇴Jul 12, 2024
@nileane thank you Nileane. Unfortunately creating a new website doesn’t keep away the impulsive hate.
Show threadKaziaJul 12, 2024
@nileane screw that. I really enjoy reading your articles and love that you bring your activism into this space ❤️
Show threadNiniJul 12, 2024
@nileane I live to see them cry like this, please tell me more about this fitlh.
Show threadDavid - Forking MadJul 12, 2024
@nileane what a parasite. Not even brave enough to use their email address
Show threadDavid StarkJul 12, 2024
@nileane Well, they do seem to think that they're on a site called MacTories, which I assume is for British conservative Mac users.
Show threadMichael HughesJul 12, 2024
@Zarkonnen @nileane You just know the six colours Apple logo infuriates them
Show threadPaul StocktonJul 12, 2024
@nileane sorry you have to put up with these oxygen thieves
Show threadJames ThomsonJul 12, 2024
@nileane Wow, I’m so sorry you have to deal with idiots like this. Know that _many_ more people value you and your voice!
Show threadNiléaneJul 12, 2024
@jamesthomson I know ❤️
Show threadMark R. StonemanJul 12, 2024
@nileane Disgusting email, but also fascinating because it brings together so much hateful wrong-headedness from the current moment in a single short message. This person knows their transphobic hate speech -- though it feels more reactive than considered. I can't tell if they're simply piling on or if they feel threatened themselves. In any case, yes, a perfect example of the norms that Threads's ostensibly neutral policies support.
Show threadBenRiceMJul 12, 2024
@nileane cool cool cool
Show threadSindarina, Edge Case DetectiveJul 12, 2024
@nileane I guess they passed the ‘are you a nazi' test 🙄
Show threadEzekiel Jul 12, 2024
@nileane alphabet people is such a stupid attempt at an insult it sounds cool to be an alphabet person
Show threadThinkaholic is 🐸 antifaJul 13, 2024
@ezekiel @nileane I honestly read it through a couple of times trying to figure out how Google’s parent company fit into this.
Show threadChris 🤩 ReinbotheJul 12, 2024
@nileane full solidarity!
Show threadDave MJul 12, 2024

@nileane Wow… Some fucking nasty little shits out there.

Please know that there are far far more people who have your back than people like that..

Show threadJamie BlumbergJul 12, 2024

@nileane I love (not really) the fact that this person is implying that other people at MacStories are “normal” despite the fact that I saw at least John and Federico unabashedly supporting your article.

Also, Alphabet is the other phone OS company. Pretty sure you want Android Central or something for that 🤪

Show threadD. Griffin JonesJul 12, 2024
@nileane “alphabet freak” would ironically be a great pride shirt
Show threadReemtJul 12, 2024
@nileane oh dear, I’m so sorry this was send to you. Makes me ashamed to be cis. 😵‍💫
Show threadFlorian TaltavullJul 12, 2024
@nileane Sorry you have to endure such idiots (once again) …
Just know that you have so many people on your side who’ve got your back!
Show threadRomain PoucletJul 12, 2024
@nileane ugh, fuck that guy. Sorry you had to deal with that and thank you for your post. Sending love from Vancouver, it should reach you within 24 hours depending on traffic.
Show threadLisPiJul 12, 2024
@nileane Imagine boiling down relationships to something that ultimately can be replaced by cloning and artificial wombs, and not seeing the issue with that.

Indeed, once that technology is readily available, will they say that relationships have no value at all since they're not necessary for population growth? If they were at all consistent in their principles, they'd have to. But we both know they're hypocrites.

What a very weird perspective they have. Especially when that same weirdo is probably espousing overpopulation nonsense in other places, without ever noticing the incoherence.

There's also the implication that "expansion at all cost, whatever the cost" is necessarily the point of life. I think that the centuries have instead done a very good job of demonstrating /why/ imperialism and cancer philosophy (unlimited growth & expansion) are /not/ a good idea.
Show threadNicolas FurnoJul 12, 2024

@nileane ah, je ne connaissais pas l’insulte sur l’alphabet, ça change, j’imagine.

(Courage et bravo pour tes publications sur le sujet. Voici une photo de chat pour tenter de compenser un peu l’horreur de ce mail).

Show threadNiléaneJul 12, 2024
@nicolasf Minou <333
Show threadCorbin DavenportJul 12, 2024
@nileane this person is definitely not "undamaged”
Show thread⛈️ Information ⛈️Jul 12, 2024
@nileane I've never seen a hate mail do DARVO backwards until today. That's awful and I'm sorry you have to go through it.
Show threadSophia Jul 12, 2024
@nileane "mactories” yes of course I see
Show threadenoch_exe_incJul 12, 2024

@nileane Fuсking hell…

I guess I’m proud to admit I’m a pervert.

Show threadGaelan SteeleJul 12, 2024
@nileane read that subject line and first few words and thought it was someone angry at Google for AI stuff
Show threadgioJul 12, 2024
@nileane I’m very sorry you had to suffer that kind of response. I thought your article was well written and illuminating. We need more of that in the world.
Show threadCharlieGJul 12, 2024

@nileane Ugh, these people are very broken.

For what it’s worth, your article has inspired me to join Club Macstories. It’s important to look at tech from a social point of view too.

Show threadSylvhemJul 12, 2024
@nileane Thank you 💜.
Show threadmatlagJul 12, 2024
@macstories @nileane The biggest mystery to me was why would anyone trust Threads to do better than the others, especially knowing Facebook's track record.

This is the very same company screwing people over and over and over and over and "Hey, why wouldn't we give them a 42nd chance? They said they would do good this time!"

Moderating is a cost, and marginalized communities combine both criteria "too small to represent significant money making" and "attract most of the hate, so higher moderation cost if we want to protect them". Corporates will always do an accounting math before doing what's right.

I believe only federated decentralized networks provide a solution, with instances ideally managed by people who are themselves part of a minority group.
Show threadJargogglesJul 12, 2024

@matlag @macstories @nileane
Anybody who said they were going to take a "wait and see" approach when it came to defederating with Threads was lying to you and/or themselves. It was a thought-terminating cliché to avoid taking a hard stance on an issue that they never had any intention of revisiting.

They have stars in their eyes over the massive user count and the people who were actually open enough to talk that stance through did end up saying that it really just came down to the size of the audience.

The only way it makes sense is if you think big numbers are better just for the sake of being bigger. Personally, I don't think size is a virtue when it comes to unmoderated hate-filled cesspools, but that's me.

Show thread🔥Cassandra🔥Jul 13, 2024
@matlag @macstories @nileane I didn't understand this either. Why would anyone expect a different outcome with the same set of factors?
Show threadkeschi   ΘJul 12, 2024
@nileane @macstories any instance worth its salt had threads from the very moment it was announced as project92 anyway.
Show threadAphrodite (recharging)Jul 12, 2024

@nileane @macstories

This is why I am happiest on the real Fedi, not Zuck’s ersatz version seeking to embrace, extend, exclude and extinguish.