Trolls, Sincerity, and Our Public Image

I feel that the time is ripe to write something about how we as a movement should give some thought to public relations and how to help increase our numbers in the men's movement. I would like to ask every reader of Mensactivism.org to take a moment to read this article and reflect on it, and tell me what you think. I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I think it's time for a discussion on the following topic. Click "Read More" below for the text...

In the year and a half that I've seen Mensactivism.org grow and flourish, I've always been encouraged by the number of sincere, thoughtful people who are helping to get this movement off the ground. Men's issues are definitely making some headway, in the media and in public consciousness, though the progress has often been slow and meandering. But I think we're approaching a critical point where a large number of new people are going to want to learn more about us, and this is an opportunity that could catapault us ahead or set us back to square one, depending on how we deal with it.

The new cooperation between Mensactivism.org and iFeminism.com has attracted a lot of attention from men and women in both groups. Consequently, we've received a bunch of new visitors to Mensactivism.org recently, and while some of them are already "on our side," others are suspicious of us and some are testing the waters to decide what to make of us.

I think it would be useful to take a moment to think about how we should approach new people who profess to have some interest in the men's movement, through posting on our comment boards. I don't intend to single anyone out, but there have been moments of antagonism and minor flame wars which aren't helping us to reach our common goals. Admittedly, there have been a few troll posters (antagonists that simply post nonsense to stir up trouble, usually through the "Anonymous User" account), but some of the hostilities have turned out to be unreasonable.

First of all, I firmly believe that men and women can and should be angry about the pervasive discrimination men face these days. Emotion is a strong motivator, and the intent of this message is not to encourage complacency in any way. The intent is to ask people to consider the effects of how they utilize their anger and discontent. I'm not talking about censorship or making sure people don't use "bad words" on our comment boards, but for people to consider what effects their words can have beyond the topic they are discussing - that is, how other people will perceive their postings and connect it with the men's movement.

My plea to you, the reader, is to give other people the benefit of the doubt as much as possible. In particular, there have been two disturbing trends I've noticed. In one scenario, someone posting here for the first time who signs their message with a female name immediately gets grilled if she expresses anything other than 100% agreement with our views. In another case, anonymous posters who express dissent in any form are sometimes referred to as "she" by other posters. The latter case is apparently intended to alienate the person and brand him or her as "the enemy," and implies that women in general are "our enemy." We're not going to get anywhere by alienating others, including turning supporters away on the basis of their sex. And responding in these ways simply provokes fruitless confrontation and ad hominem flame wars, getting us nowhere.

I hope when you stop and think about these issues you'll agree that we need to focus on building a fair and just image for the men's movement, and that you'll help take part in making Mensactivism.org a community where newbies can come to learn and be encouraged by us - where they will be compelled to defend us in front of others, rather than having their preconceptions of us (ie, as a bunch of "angry, white men") reinforced.

On another note, I do recognize the need for men and women to be able to express their disgust at many of the things which go on in the world that get posted here as news stories. But there is a difference between ranting about an unjust law or policy, and allowing the frustration one feels about an issue spill over into the personal interactions that happen on Mensactivism.org. If we are going to build strength as a movement we need to be able to agree to disagree, and to have arguments which keep the concept of respect intact. Honestly, the stuff that's gone on here is very minor compared to many e-mail lists and newsgroups, but I wanted to get this message out now while we have the most control over it.

And as for the true trolls, just don't spend your time answering them. They get their kicks from inciting others to waste their time and energy responding, time and energy that could be used to keep pushing the men's movement forward. When you've determined that someone is a troll, just try not to respond to them. When you waste your energy with a troll poster, they've won over you.

These are just my own thoughts on the matter. I encourage you to add your own thoughts here.

Scott

NOTICE: This story was migrated from the old software that used to run Mensactivism.org. Unfortunately, user comments did not get included in the migration. However, you may view a copy of the original story, with comments, at the following link:

http://news.mensactivism.org/articles/01/11/24/0210210.shtml