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I would argue that nothing has significantly changed about cultural norms, except for a widespread acceptance that sexual harassment is unacceptable in the wake

I would argue that nothing has significantly changed about cultural norms, except for a widespread acceptance that sexual harassment is unacceptable in the wake of #MeToo. No, what’s different is that social media allows for decentralized outrage targeting. It can come organically or it can be manufactured by the advertisement-dependent media, autocratic states, PR firms, “social justice warriors”, or other bad actors. That creates the perception of widespread outrage even when its limited to a handful of twitter accounts. But when a few dozen people are so loud you can’t hear the near-silence of everybody else, the rational response is to stop the noise and acquiesce to the outraged, which only gives them more power for the next Internet hate bandwagon.

Pfhreak 7y ago
> I would argue that nothing has significantly changed about cultural norms My parents told me not to get a tattoo because I'd never land a job and I'd die destitute. Gay people can get married and I see shoutouts to nonbinary people on the regular. We're seeing widespread acceptance of vegetarianism and veganism as a personal choice that isn't subject to ridicule. You mentioned #MeToo, which is still sweeping through various industries. Class and race consciousness seems to be changing as well. Neuroatypical people are getting more support and recognition. (Still have plenty of ways to go here.) I dunno, I'd say we've gone through a lot of changes since the 90s. > “social justice warriors”, or other bad actors. Caring about social justice doesn't make one a bad actor.
- rm_-rf_slash 7y ago
  Perhaps I should have been more precise with my language. What I meant to say was that I don’t think much has changed about cultural norms regarding bandwagoning. I put “social justice warriors” in quotation marks because there are bad actors within any well-meaning group who in their own efforts do far more damage to themselves and others than they do to help anybody.

Pfhreak 7y ago

> I would argue that nothing has significantly changed about cultural norms My parents told me not to get a tattoo because I'd never land a job and I'd die destitute. Gay people can get married and I see shoutouts to nonbinary people on the regular. We're seeing widespread acceptance of vegetarianism and veganism as a personal choice that isn't subject to ridicule. You mentioned #MeToo, which is still sweeping through various industries. Class and race consciousness seems to be changing as well. Neuroatypical people are getting more support and recognition. (Still have plenty of ways to go here.) I dunno, I'd say we've gone through a lot of changes since the 90s. > “social justice warriors”, or other bad actors. Caring about social justice doesn't make one a bad actor.

rm_-rf_slash 7y ago
Perhaps I should have been more precise with my language. What I meant to say was that I don’t think much has changed about cultural norms regarding bandwagoning. I put “social justice warriors” in quotation marks because there are bad actors within any well-meaning group who in their own efforts do far more damage to themselves and others than they do to help anybody.