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What's the best strategy for avoiding harassment? I have a Twitter account, but very, very rarely use it. It's my biggest concern really. Knowing strategies to

What's the best strategy for avoiding harassment? I have a Twitter account, but very, very rarely use it. It's my biggest concern really. Knowing strategies to avoid just nasty people is the main issue I have with it. Like, if you go into Twitter and see that you have a whole bunch of Gamer Gayers targeting you (just an example, I can't see how I would be a target!) then I'd imagine having no Twitter would be preferable to actually having a Twitter account!

imron 11y ago
> Knowing strategies to avoid just nasty people Perhaps refrain from using childish insults like Gamer Gayers. Like attracts like.
- chris_wot 11y ago
  Yow! That is fully an iPhone spelling fail. That was not in any way intended. Sorry about that!
  - imron 11y ago
    Alternatively, it is fully a lack of proofreading before hitting reply fail :-) Either way, yes, out of all the words to misspell, that one was quite unfortunate.
    - chris_wot 11y ago
      Touché
  - oneeyedpigeon 11y ago
    You could, and should, edit it.
    - imron 11y ago
      Actually he can't. HN has a time limit on edits, and it's expired for my post above, which means it's also expired for his.
      - chris_wot 11y ago
        That was, sadly, correct.
jsmeaton 11y ago
You don't have to actually post anything. I use Twitter to consume information, not to blast it. Sometimes I'll retweet a project or maybe post an interesting bit of code, but that's unlikely to attract any negative attention. Avoid posting or retweeting contentious information, you'll be fine.
PKop 11y ago
If some random person is harassing you, just block them. It's really simple. They can't see your tweets, and you won't see theirs.
oneeyedpigeon 11y ago
You're only likely to be 'targetted' by anyone if you post strong opinions on contentious topics. Of course, that doesn't mean you shouldn't, but you should be prepared to defend your views or ignore certain reactions. This is all just real life, after all.
pjc50 11y ago
I'd imagine having no Twitter would be preferable to actually having a Twitter account! To some people it's so valuable to use as a means of participating in their community of choice that they're willing to keep using it despite severe harrasment. Not being a woman gives you a big advantage against harrasment. But it can come from all sorts of weird places. My wife is a big Eurovision tweeter and encountered people who search for "Macedonia" to tweet Greek nationalist abuse at.

imron 11y ago

> Knowing strategies to avoid just nasty people Perhaps refrain from using childish insults like Gamer Gayers. Like attracts like.

chris_wot 11y ago
Yow! That is fully an iPhone spelling fail. That was not in any way intended. Sorry about that!
- imron 11y ago
  Alternatively, it is fully a lack of proofreading before hitting reply fail :-) Either way, yes, out of all the words to misspell, that one was quite unfortunate.
  - chris_wot 11y ago
    Touché
- oneeyedpigeon 11y ago
  You could, and should, edit it.
  - imron 11y ago
    Actually he can't. HN has a time limit on edits, and it's expired for my post above, which means it's also expired for his.
    - chris_wot 11y ago
      That was, sadly, correct.

jsmeaton 11y ago

You don't have to actually post anything. I use Twitter to consume information, not to blast it. Sometimes I'll retweet a project or maybe post an interesting bit of code, but that's unlikely to attract any negative attention. Avoid posting or retweeting contentious information, you'll be fine.

PKop 11y ago

If some random person is harassing you, just block them. It's really simple. They can't see your tweets, and you won't see theirs.

oneeyedpigeon 11y ago

You're only likely to be 'targetted' by anyone if you post strong opinions on contentious topics. Of course, that doesn't mean you shouldn't, but you should be prepared to defend your views or ignore certain reactions. This is all just real life, after all.

pjc50 11y ago

I'd imagine having no Twitter would be preferable to actually having a Twitter account! To some people it's so valuable to use as a means of participating in their community of choice that they're willing to keep using it despite severe harrasment. Not being a woman gives you a big advantage against harrasment. But it can come from all sorts of weird places. My wife is a big Eurovision tweeter and encountered people who search for "Macedonia" to tweet Greek nationalist abuse at.