Read on Twitter
Some times I have to look up the dictionary definition of words I already know because twitter uses them all wrong.
Tonight it’s the word “accountable.”
Is this the process that occurs when folks are holding people accountable online?
It feels like whatever is being keyed out is something different than accountability. More punitive and less of an investment in restoring a road back. I think that word isn’t being used the way it’s defined exactly.
It seems like people substitute harassment, ridicule, shunning and other shit for accountability a lot. Maybe because strangers can’t really hold people they don’t truly know or invest in accountable.
Which makes me wonder if that denotation is more about making people feel more powerful than they are. So instead of saying “I mocked, complained about and harassed a celeb online” we say “I’m holding Rihanna accountable.” And that makes it morally justified.
I always felt accountability was impossible unless there was an understood shared investment in each other. Maybe the definition has changed over time and should be updated.
To me it has always seemed silly to say “I’m holding Serena Williams accountable.” Because she doesn’t know you exist. And even if by some means the harassment reached her attention I’m not sure that counts as making someone accountable or not.
I don’t know. A lot of accountability online looks more like people griping into the void and forming community over shared gripes.
