Aim to be a critic, not a troll

Good article w/a lot of interesting rabbit-holes via the links re: Internet culture and trolling.  This is about a self-published Instagram poet, but “professional” poets do get hate as well….(thinking of the recent on-line attacks by students against Ellen van Neerven, for ex.)

The most hated poet in Portland: One tweet turned Collin Andrew Yost into a joke. Could he survive it? – Laura Yan – The Outline – 11/14/17

Yost’s poems were problematic re: what they revealed of potentially misogynistic feelings.   Angry tweets and satires poured in. The author of this article, Laura Yan, even put some up herself.

“For many women, recognizing misogyny is an instinct, something you viscerally feel even if you can’t explain it. But by the time Izzy’s tweet became viral the next morning, the comments no longer seemed to be just about misogyny. They started to feel theatrical and performative, about who can come up with the funniest tweet or the most biting satire.

“According to Dr. Elias Aboujaoude, a Stanford University psychiatrist and author of Virtually You: The Dangerous Powers of the E-Personality, there’s ‘something thrilling about expressing yourself without any breaks on what you say.’ If a friend showed you his poetry over coffee, for instance, you’d find a polite way to express your dislike, if you share your opinion at all. But online, we speak ‘without worrying about consequences to you or the person on the receiving end.’ This can be fun, liberating, even ‘entertaining or smart in some situations.’ But it can also become dangerous.”

Click here to read the poems that went viral/started the onslaught, plus some of the responses.