So, we don't get into this a lot although we suspect our long-time followers have noticed it, but we'd like to take a moment to elaborate on our stance.

The reason you don't see mudslinging and personal attacks from us is that we are taking a principled stand against that.

This is one of those topics that we're bringing up now because there is no proximate controversy that our followers would likely connect it to. We are not talking about any specific situation. This is a general point.

Social media gives rise to some incredibly harmful dynamics. Not just pile-ons, but character assassinations and other forms of political posturing towards people who almost certainly do not view themselves as politicians.

In essence, everyone on social media lives with the risk that they could at any moment be treated in all the shitty ways that society treats celebrities - even if they really, really aren't one.

That's bullshit, and we believe it's important to develop social media platforms that don't facilitate it. People can and should choose to be better, but also, the platform makes personal attacks unreasonably effective, and it shouldn't.

The corollary of this stance, and the reason we're writing this thread, is this:

No matter what your cause is, don't come to us asking us to spread personal attacks for the sake of the attacks. We are not going to do it.

No matter how wrong somebody's actions are, telling our 3,000 followers to go harass them is not a course of action that would ever occur to us. It would not be justice.

Remember that when you participate in discussing the personal merits of somebody you don't know, you don't do it in a vacuum. Your actions are magnified thousands of times by everyone else who's dong the same thing you're doing.

You should be very mindful of even giving anything like that air time by talking about it. You should definitely not *call* for it. No good is going to come of gossip. It just isn't going to help.

Okay, that's our piece. Thank you for reading.