Love and Hate

Each fuels the other

So the other day, I showed up for one of those sidewalk honk’n wave protests. I think they’re actually kind of fun—although as my granddaughter remarks, it’s funner when it’s warmer. Anyway, there we were, holding up our signs and waving our flags, and people driving by are merrily honking to show support. Dozens, hundreds of cars passed by over the course of an hour, with people honking and waving and smiling. And then a dude at a red light revved his engine ferociously and bellowed “Trump Trump Trump” as he zoomed off, middle finger held high.

One hate-filled person out of hundreds who honked and waved and smiled. But that one angry person just sucks up all the oxygen. He intimidates. He discourages folk from participating.

But the important point is that he’s hugely outnumbered. That’s the star we can’t lose sight of. There are so many more of us—the sane Americans who are weeping for Alex and Renee and Liam, who are horrified and shocked at the detention centers, embarrassed by the Greenland antics and all the nastiness. We are a huge majority.

A few years ago, I started doing social media for my local chapter of the League of Women Voters. I knew almost nothing about social media when I started, but I’ve been boning up and trying to figure out hashtags and algorithms and all the jargon. It’s fun in a brain-game sort of way, using words and figuring out how to maximize engagement, kind of like a cross between Sudoku and Wordle.

I’ve figured out a bit about what makes the mysterious algorithm tick. Honestly, it’s like there are elves who decide what happens to your Facebook posts. The more people who like, share, and comment on a post, the more the algorithm elves say, “Hmm, this one is doing well, let’s show it to a few more people.” And then if a few more people like or comment, the elves send it to a few more and so on.

So anyway, I posted a picture of the protest, a nice picture, people with a flag and a few signs: ICE OUT and so forth. And the next day, I checked it, expecting the usual half-dozen Likes. Whoa. The picture went viral—modestly, not into the Taylor Swift stratosphere, but it got 400 likes, which is unheard of for my little chapter of the League.

So 400 people liked it. Yay! But it also got about 70 comments, 53 of which were, to put it mildly, negative. “Loser Dumbocrats wasting time” was the nicest one. The worst would absolutely curl your hair. I will spare you.

These nasty trolls—who are they? A few are soulless bots, literally not human. They scan social media for key words, and automatically post negative comments. But I would guess many are real people—local people—our neighbors. The more the algorithm elves boost my post, the more chance of trolls seeing it. Sad, angry people. It’s easy to say, oh, just ignore them, but it’s hard to look away, to block those loud voices.

But—here’s the fun part—those noisy trolls are actually helping us. Remember that the algorithm likes engagement. The elves don’t care if it’s a thoughtfully worded response or a misspelled insult. The more comments, the more my message reaches out to new people, a few trolls, but more and more people of good will. (This is why it’s so important to comment on posts you like.) It’s like a stone thrown into a pool, with ripples spreading farther and farther. Their hate is fueling our love.

And remember, we are the majority. Sanity will prevail eventually. I know, because the score is 400 to 53.

Dear Friends,

Are you furious about the state of the world and wondering what to do about it? I hope you’ll continue to check out The Optimistic Activist.

Every now and then I post some ideas for doing something. How to get out the vote, spread the word, and support progressive candidates. Ideas for simple but effective activism. As easy, as practical, as do-able as I can make them.

Together, I think, we can really make a difference.

“Optimism is a strategy for making a better future.”

--Noam Chomsky

Anitasanchez.com