When discouraging tattling leads to an explosion on social media

[trinker]

I just noticed an interesting framing in all the harassment cases, and the ways in which it is affected by our personal histories with authority and intervention

Comments

[ashbet]

You have a very good point with this.

I do see a disconnect between orgs who see Twitter/etc. as "calling out the mob with pitchforks and torches, when we could have handled this discreetly/internally," versus people who have seen internal processes fail, or who are younger and/or more-social-media-oriented, who may have been silenced before, or may simply be frustrated and confused that many orgs don't seem to understand/engage with social media, particularly when it comes to timely responses to a crisis.

-- A <3

[holyoutlaw]

I've seen the generational clash you mention, and I think you have an interesting framework for looking at it.

And, for what it's worth, Wiscon does have a social media person on its concom.

[houseboatonstyx]

/ shakes cane /

As a 1970s feminist who legendarily* threw a high status harasser in the swimming pool, I feel that a third option is missing here.

Or maybe it's a sub-set of taking into one own hands, other than tattling to social media either.

* I didn't really throw him in the pool, just martial-arted his little finger, bent him over, and walked him gently to the center of the room and whispered in his ear.

[starcat_jewel]

The big thing that using social media accomplishes which "handling it internally and discreetly" doesn't is to prevent it from being handled so discreetly that nobody else ever hears about it. (Like the way Catholic abuser-priests were shuttled from one parish to another, often for decades, and the people in the new parish never had any idea that they should be wary around this guy.) Even if Con A takes appropriate action about someone being a harasser, that doesn't help Con B if Con B doesn't know it happened.